THE 


HISTORY 


OF 


FLORIDA,  LOUISIANA,  TEXAS, 


AND 


CALIFORNIA, 


AND  OF  THE  ADJOINING  COUNTRIES, 


INCLUDING    THE    WHOLE 


VALLEY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI, 

FROM  THE  DISCOVERY  TO   THEIR  INCORPORATION  WITH  THE  UNITED 
STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


BY 

ROBERT    GREENHOW 

'•  '*>  '• 

Author  of  a  Historical  and  Political  Memoir  on  the  North  West  Coast,  published  in 
1840  by  the  United  States  Senate ;  of  a  History  of  Oregon,  &c.,  &c. 


VOLUME    I. 


NEW   YORK: 


1856. 


THE 


HISTORY 


OF 


FLORIDA,  LOUISIANA,  TEXAS, 


AND 


CALIFORNIA, 

AND  OF  THE  ADJOINING  COUNTRIES, 


INCLUDING    THE    WHOLE 


VALLEY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI, 

FROM  THE  DISCOVERY  TO   THEIR  INCORPORATION  WITH  THE  UNITED 
STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


BY 


ROBERT    GREENHOW 

®jr  Sfr 

Author  of  a  Historical  and  Political  Memoir  on  the  North  West  Coast,  published  in 
1840  by  the  United  States  Senate ;  of  a  History  of  Oregon,  &c.,  &c. 


VOLUME    I. 


NEW   YORK: 


1856. 


Bancroft  Library 


PUEPACE. 


IN  offering  this  History  to  the  public  I  consider  it  proper 
to  present  an  explanation  of  the  author's  motives  for  under 
taking  his  task,  and  afterwards  for  extending  it  beyond  the 
limits  originally  marked  out.  For  many  years  his  attention 
had  been  called  to  the  fact  that  no  general  and  reliable  his 
tory  of  the  southern  and  south-western  portion  of  our  country 
existed,  and  that  while  New  England  had  recorded  the 
minutest  incidents  of  her  early  story,  very  little  was  accu 
rately  known  of  the  settlements  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  on  the  border  lands  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  A 
desire  to  supply  this  deficiency  and  to  become  the  historian 
of  that  region,  soon  possessed  the  author's  mind;  and,  while 
engaged  in  composing  his  History  of  Oregon  and  California, 
so  large  an  amount  of  new  information  was  gathered  by  him, 
that  he  resolved,  at  once,  to  undertake  the  task.  Years  of 
patient  labor  were  spent  in  collecting,  arranging,  and  ex 
amining  materials  for  the  work;  and,  in  the  course  of  his 
pursuit,  he  encountered  so  many  discrepancies,  or  perversions 
of  fact,  that  he  determined  to  subject  his  own  studies  to  the 
severest  tests  of  time  and  criticism  before  he  ventured  to  offer 
them  to  the  public.  Adhering  to  this  rule,  the  author  fre 
quently  came  in  collision  with  statements  of  writers  of  estab 
lished  reputation  ;  but  believing  that  nothing  short  of  abso 
lute  truth  could  satisfy  the  high  behests  of  History,  he 
pursued  his  independent  task,  taking  care  to  fortify  him 
self  with  authority  for  every  contravening  statement  that  he 
recorded.  To  those  who  knew  Mr.  Greenhow,  I  need  not  say 
that  these  labors  were  labors  of  love  enthusiastically  pursued- 
but  it  is  proper  for  me  to  add  that  his  resources  for  authority 
•  in  the  various  public  libraries  of  Washington  and  elsewhere; — 


11  PREFACE. 

in  his  extended  and  valuable  correspondence, — and,  especially, 
in  the  unsurpassed  collection  of  his  friend  and  counseller 
PETER  FORCE,  were  perhaps,  unequalled  in  this  country. 

The  author  originally  intended  to  finish  this  History  with 
the  war  of  Independence;  hut  the  want  of  information  as  to 
the  true  boundaries  of  Louisiana  and  Texas,  induced  him 
to  continue  the  work.  His  conclusions  may  he  found  to  differ 
from  those  of  some  of  our  leading  statesmen,  and  even  from 
the  declarations  of  our  national  authorities;  yet,  History  left 
him  no  discretion  in  forming  and  announcing  his  opinions. 

While  engaged  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  work,  the  war 
with  Mexico  was  actively  prosecuted,  so  that  the  boundaries 
of  Texas  acquired,  if  possible,  a  greater  importance  than  ever. 
The  account  of  California,  also,  forms  a  very  significant  por 
tion  of  these  volumes,  for  much  of  its  early  Spanish  history 
has  such  affinity  with  that  of  Florida,  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
that  it  would  have  been  nearly  impossible  to  separate  them 
without  making  portions  of  their  history  obscure. 

The  acquisition  of  California  by  the  United  States,  and  a 
hope  of  restoring  his  health  which  had  been  much  impaired 
by  studious  confinement,  determined  the  author  to  visit  our 
Pacific  coast.  Before  going  there,  however,  he  deemed  it 
necessary  to  visit  Mexico  to  procure  information,  not  else 
where  to  be  had,  as  to  the  Spanish  government  and  laws  of 
California.  Mr.  Greenhow  foresaw  the  importance  of  this 
knowledge  in  the  litigation  which  was  likely  to  ensue, 
and  every  facility  was  afforded  for  his  researches  by  the 
Mexican  officials.  During  the  six  or  seven  months  passed 
by  him  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
was  spent  among  the  archives,  where. he  considered  himself 
amply  repaid  by  the  discovery  of  many  links  required  for  a 
connected  history  of  California.  His  health,  meanwhile,  did 
not  improve,  and  he  suffered,  moreover,  from  an  affection  of 
his  eyes,  in  consequence  of  which,  I,  who  had  been  the  com 
panion  of  his  journey,  became  his  amanuensis  and  was  thus 
enabled  in  some  degree  to  lighten  his  labors. 

At  the  end  of  1850,  we  continued  our  journey  to  California, 
crossing  the  country  to  Acapulco  and  thence  to  San  Francisco, 
where  Mr.  Grt'enhow  soon  became  actively  engaged  in  the 


PREFACE.  Ill 

examination  and  argument  of  contested  land  titles.  These 
professional' duties  interfered  with,  but  did  not  altogether 
suspend  his  historical  studies,  and  as  they  approached  conclu 
sion  under  his  careful  hand,  he  became  anxious  to  submit  them 
to  the  public.  But  he  was  not  permitted  to  witness  this 
consummation  of  his  labors.  His  career  was  terminated  on 
the  27th  of  March,  1854,  by  a  violent  casualty  which  occurred 
in  San  Francisco — a  city  in  which  his  high  integrity  and 
moral  worth  had  won  for  him  the  popular  esteem  at  a  time 
when  society  was  almost  disorganized. 

Before  this  sad  event  Mr.  Greenhow  had  finished  stereo 
typing  the  whole  of  the  first,  and  part  of  the  second  volume 
of  this  work;  and  he  left  nearly  all  of  the  manuscript  for  the 
remainder,  in  such  a  condition  that  it  may  be  put  to  press  with 
such  slight  corrections  as  his  own  judgment  would  probably 
have  dictated  in  revising  the  proof-sheets. 

I  arn  deeply  impres&ed  with  the  responsibility  imposed  on 
me  by  his  death;  but  I  can  only  endeavor  to  carry  out  the  will 
of  the  author,  whose  instructions*  in  tMs  respect,  I  often  re 
ceived,  for  he  seemed  to  have  a  conviction  that  the  task  of 
publication  would  devolve  upon  me.  Whilst  I  esteem  it  not 
only  an  honorable  duty  but  an  affectionate  trust,  to  guard 
and  extend  a  reputation  which  is  the  sacred  heritage  of  his 
family,  I  commit  this  work  to  the  public  with  the  most  per 
fect  confidence  in  the  fidelity  with  which  it  was  prepared, 
and  in  its  national  value  as  a  History.  I  have  had  the  con 
solation  to  receive  the  warm  sympathy  of  many  enlightened 
and  distinguished  men  who  knew  the  author  and  were  fa 
miliar  with  his  labors;  but  I  would  be  unjust  to  my  own 
feelings  if  I  did  not  thus  publicly  express  my  thanks  to^the 
Honorable  JARED  SPARKS,  and  to  my  friend  BRANTZ  MAYER  of 
Baltimore,  whose  familiarity  with  many  of  the  subjects  of 
this  history,  enabled  him  to  render  me  the  aid  so  graciously 
given. 

ROSE  O'NEALE  GREENHOW. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  the  following  pages  an  attempt  is  made,  for  the  first  time,  to 
present  in  a  continuous  historical  narrative,  the  principal  events  relating 
to  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  northern  half  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  and  to  California,  from  the  period  of  their  discovery  by  Europeans, 
to  their  incorporation  with  the  United  States. 

In  order  to  show  more  distinctly  what  countries  are  included  in  the 
earlier  portion  of  these  volumes,  it  will  be  premised  that  the  name  of 
Florida  was  applied  in  1512,  by  the  Spaniards  to  the  peninsula  now  so 
called,  on  the  north-east  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  was  subsequently 
extended  by  them  to  the  whole  division  of  America  north  and  north 
west  of  that  great  arm  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  following  century,  after 
large  portions  of  this  division  had  been  abstracted  and  occupied  as  pro 
vinces  by  the  English  and  French,  the  latter  nation,  extending  its  settle 
ments  from  the  Atlantic  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  explored  and  took 
possession  of  the  vast  regions  drained  by  that  river  and  its  branches, 
which  received  the  appellation  of  Louisiana; — whereupon  the  Spaniards, 
to  prevent  further  encroachments  on  territories  which  they  regarded 
as  exclusively  their  own,  established  themselves  in  the  country  adjoin 
ing  Louisiana  on  the  south-west,  and  annexed  it  to  their  kingdom  of 
New  Spain  as  the  province  of  Texas. 

The  present  work  will  not  be  expected  to  embrace  a  history  of  the 
whole  division  of  America  thus  originally  included  by  the  Spaniards 
in  Florida,  nor  on  the  other  hand,  will  it  be  confined  to  the  compara 
tively  small  portions  now  known  as  Florida,  Louisiana  and  Texas ;  but 
will  comprehend  all  the  countries  drained  by  streams  entering  the 
Mexican  Gulf  on  the  north  and  those  immediately  adjacent,  between 
the  Atlantic  on  the  east,  and  the  great  river  called  Rio  Bravo,  Rio 
Grande  and  Rio  del  Norte,  on  the  south-west.  These  countries  are 
now  all  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  to  which  they  have  been 
annexed  in  various  ways.  The  history  of  each  after  its  annexation,  will 
be  related  only  so  far  as  regards  its  connection  with  the  remaining 
portions,  and  attention  will  be  directed  particularly  to  the  regions  ad 
joining  the  Mexican  Gulf,  in  which  the  most  important  events  occurred. 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

The  early  history  of  these  countries,  presents  few  of  the  events,  so 
varied  in  character  and  brilliant  in  immediate  results,  which  have 
rendered  Mexico  a  land  of  romance ;  and  the  writer,  in  tracing  it,  finds 
no  opportunity  for  the  indulgence  of  his  fancy,  being  restricted  within 
the  limits  of  the  probable  and  of  the  ordinary.  The  great  expeditions 
of  the  Spaniards  into  Florida,  ended  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  in  the 
destruction  by  disease  or  starvation  of  all  who  engaged  in  them ;  and 
the  heroes  by  whom  they  were  conducted,  could  only  exhibit  their 
powers  in  the  passive  courage  with  which  they  endured  those  dreadful 
but  common-place  evils.  Then  followed  the  settlements  of  the  Spaniards 
and  the  French,  which  never  amounted  to  more  than  a  few  paltry  vil 
lages  and  plantations  on  the  sea-coast  or  the  banks  of  the  large  rivers, 
and  were  long  considered  unworthy  to  be  made  the  subject  of  dispute 
or  negotiation  between  the  governments  of  European  nations.  It  was 
not  indeed,  until  the  present  century,  that  attention  was  directed  to 
wards  the  territories  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and 
that  the  vast  influence  which  they  might  exercise  on  the  political  condi 
tion  of  the  world  began  to  be  perceived.  The  territories  which  the 
Spaniards  abandoned  as  worthless,  because  no  gold  was  found  in  them, 
and  afterwards  occupied  only  to  prevent  the  development  of  their  re 
sources  and  to  keep  them  forever  as  a  desert  between  Mexico  and  the 
possessions  of  other  nations,  are  now  rapidly  filling  up  with  a  numerous 
and  enlightened  population,  and  in  all  probability  are  destined  to  become 
the  seat  of  a  power  greater  than  that  of  Spain  and  the  Indies  in  their 
palmy  days. 

The  most  interesting  portion  of  the  history  of  these  regions  is  that 
connected  with  their  occupation  by  the  Americans,  in  the  progress  of 
which,  many  new  and  important  questions  of  political  law  and  national 
right  have  arisen,  while  rules,  if  not  principles  of  action,  have  been 
asserted  at  variance  with  those  previously  regarded  as  established. 
These  new  views  are  daily  receiving  the  sanction  of  the  people  and 
government  of  the  United  States,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  made 
to  them  by  European  powers  retaining  interests  in  America.  The 
circumstances  connected  with  the  annexation  of  Florida,  Louisiana, 
and  Texas  to  the  United  States,  therefore  merit  the  closest  investiga 
tion,  in  order  that  the  important  questions  which  have  thus  arisen, 
may  be  placed  in  a  distinct  and  proper  light  for  the  judgment  of  the 
world.  With  this  object  the  present  work  has  been  undertaken,  which 
will  not  be  without  use,  if  it  shall  contribute  to  expose  and  correct  a 
single  error  of  fact  or  reasoning. 

The  history  of  Florida,  Louisiana  and  Texas,  has,  at  least  for  more 
than  a  century,  been  related  in  works  devoted  either  specially  to  some 
portion  of  them,  or  to  the  United  States,  Spain,  England,  France, 
Mexico,  or  the  whole  of  America  generally.  In  those  of  the  latter  class, 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

sufficient  space  could  not  be  assigned  for  the  necessary  details,  even  if 
the  authors  had  found  time  to  investigate  them;  whilst  in  the  others, 
it  was  of  course  impossible  to  present,  with  the  requisite  distinctness, 
many  events  of  a  minute  character  which  occurred  in  remote  districts, 
but  which  materially  affected  the  interests  of  the  whole.  These  coun 
tries  indeed  remained  almost  isolated  until  their  occupation  by  the 
Americans;  their  inhabitants  having  no  communication  with  the  ad 
joining  possessions  of  other  nations,  and  very  little  with  those  of  the 
power  to  which  they  belonged;  whilst  the  different  portions,  even  when 
under  the  dominion  of  different  nations,  were  generally  dependent  on 
each  other,  and  liable  to  be  affected  by  any  measure  bearing  materially 
upon  one. 

In  presenting,  therefore,  the  history  of  these  countries  they  should 
be  considered  as  one ;  and  no  point  of  time,  subsequent  to  that  of  the 
first  discovery  of  their  coasts,  should  be  selected  for  its  commencement. 
The  most  recent  and  important  events  in  one  portion,  will  be  found  to 
be  intimately  connected  with  those  which  occurred  in  another  during 
the  life  time  of  the  companions  of  Columbus,  and  cannot  be  properly 
estimated  without  reference  to  the  political  systems  and  the  views  of 
national  law  prevailing  among  civilized  states  at  that  remote  epoch. 
The  condition  of  the  whole  has  moreover,  until  their  annexation  to  the 
United  States,  often  depended  upon  political  movements  in  Europe,  of 
which  none  of  the  works  above  mentioned  has  shown  or  could  shaw 
the  entire  influence ;  while  statesmen,  relying  on  these  works  for  infor 
mation  as  to  the  past,  have  been  and  may  again  be  led  to  the  most 
serious  errors  and  difficulties,  in  their  demands  or  admissions. 

In  the  correspondence  which  led  to  the  Florida  treaty  of  1820,  the 
facts  are  often  incorrectly  represented ;  yet,  no  means  have  been  taken 
to  verify  them,  while  the  correspondence  is  referred  to  as  authority 
on  points  concerning  the  limits  of  Louisiana  and  on  many  others 
relating  to  the  extent  and  boundaries  of  Texas.  To  attempt  to  oppose 
such  authority  is  a  task  from  which  he  who  undertakes  it  may  not 
reasonably  expect  a  grateful  return,  especially  when  his  representations 
do  not  invariably  support  the  views  maintained  by  many  distinguished 
negotiators  and  statesmen. 

These  pages  are  the  results  of  the  study  of  the  countries  in  question, 
pursued  for  several  years  of  anxious  research  and  reflection,  in  the 
course  of  which,  not  only  have  all  the  printed  works  and  maps  hitherto 
cited  as  authorities,  been  consulted,  but  many  others  adduced,  together 
with  a  mass  of  official  manuscripts  which  have  slumbered  for  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half  in  the  archives  of  Paris,  Madrid  and  Mexico, 
and  still  remain  unpublished.  In  discussions  of  boundaries,  undue 
importance  is  commonly  attached  to  maps,  when,  in  fact,  they  prove 
little  but  the  opinion  of  the  geographer  or  draftsman  who  construct- 


4  -INTRODUCTION. 

cd  them,  while  many  were  only  designed  to  advance  a  public  claim  or 
private  speculation.  Their  historic  value  depends  on  their  accordance 
with  facts  and  reason,  and  upon  the  moral  and  political  character  of 
their  authors. 

In  the  following  work,  the  history  of  the  discovery  and  settlement 
of  the  countries  to  which  it  is  devoted,  is  carefully  traced;  and  all 
other  circumstances  worthy  of  note  respecting  them,  are  recorded 
with  the  minuteness  in  each  case  which  its  importance  seemed  to 
require.  Especial  attention  has  been  given  to  the  negotiations  and 
treaties  between  the  nations  interested  in  those  countries,  showing  not 
only  all  the  stipulations  actually  made  concerning  them,  but  likewise 
the  political  condition  in  which  they  were  placed  by  the  spirit  or  proper 
construction  of  each  agreement.  Moreover,  the  extent  of  geographical 
knowledge  with  regard  to  that  part  of  America  at  particular  periods, 
is  proved  by  references,  the  authority  of  each  of  which  is  critically  ex 
amined.  This  species  of  information  has  been  found  by  the  author 
indispensable  in  the  study  of  the  numerous  narratives  of  expeditions, 
which  have  been  consulted,  and  absolutely  necessary  for  understanding 
the  true  meaning  and  bearing  of  treaties ;  while  the  researches  necessary 
for  obtaining  it  have  occupied  a  large  portion  of  the  years  spent  in 
preparing  these  volumes  for  the  public. 


HISTORY 

OP 

FLORIDA,  LOUISIANA,  TEXAS, 

AND 

CALIFORNIA, 

AND  OF  THE  ADJOINING  COUNTRIES,  INCLUDING  THE  WHOLE 
VALLEY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


CHAPTER    I. 

1492  TO  1516. 

THE  FIELD  OF  THIS  HlSTORY — GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES— MOUN 
TAINS — KIVERS — CLIMATE — THE  MISSISSIPPI  AND  ITS  TRIBU 
TARIES — THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI — STREAMS  OF  THE 
EAST  COAST — THE  ABORIGINAL  POPULATION— EUROPEAN  DIS 
COVERIES — SPANISH  GOVERNMENT  IN  WEST  INDIES — EARLY 
MAP  OF  WEST  INDIES — DISCOVERY  OF  FLORIDA,  GULF  STREAM, 
AND  PACIFIC. 

THE  part  of  America  to  which  the  earlier  portion  of  the 
following  history  relates,  extending  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  from  the  great  river  known  as  Rio  Bravo,  Rio 
Grande,  or  Rio  del  Norte,  and  eastwardly  to  the  Atlantic, 
was  discovered  and  traversed  in  various  directions  by  the 
Spaniards,  within  fifty  years  after  the  existence  of  the  New 
World  had  been  ascertained  by  Columbus.  At  that  period, 
and  during  the  remainder  of  the  sixteenth  century,  these 
countries  and  the  whole  division  of  the  continent  farther 
north,  were  included  under  the  general  name  of  FLORIDA, 
bestowed  by  the  Spaniards  in  commemoration  of  Easter 
Sunday,  the  day  on  which  land  was  first  seen  in  the  vicinity 
of  St.  Augustine. 


6  EAEXY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  century,  several  large  por 
tions  of  this  division  bordering  upon  the  Atlantic,  were  suc 
cessively  occupied  by  the  English,  the  French  and  the  Dutch; 
and  the  name  of  Florida  became  gradually  restricted  by  all 
nations,  except  the  Spanish,  to  the  territory  south  of  the  Sa 
vannah  river.  The  French,  then  penetrating  westward  from 
their  settlements  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  explored  and  occupied 
the  reg-ions  drained  by  the  Mississippi,  to  which  they  assign 
ed  the  appellation  of  Louisiana,  in  honor  of  their  sovereign, 
Louis  XIV. 

Florida  was  thus  farther  reduced  in  extent;  and  the  Span 
iards,  in  order  to  restrain  the  encroachments  of  other  Euro 
pean  nations  upon  territories  which  they  considered  as  ex 
clusively  their  own,  in  virtue  of  the  papal  concession,  as  well 
as  of  their  discoveries  and  settlements,  established  themselves 
in  the  region  next  adjoining  Louisiana  on  the  west,  and  an 
nexed  it  to  their  kingdom  of  Mexico  or  New  Spain,  as  the 
Province  of  Texas.  This  last  establishment  was  formed  in 
the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Texas  being  the 
name  of  the  principal  tribe  of  the  Cenis  nation  or  confederacy 
of  Indians,  dwelling  between  the  Ked  river  and  the  Trinity. 
The  Spaniards  however  persisted  until  a  much  later  period, 
in  applying  the  name  of  Florida  to  the  whole  division  of 
America  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf;  treating  the  colonies  of 
the  other  European  nations  in  those  countries  as  illegal  in 
trusions.* 

Such  were  the  circumstances  under  which  the  names  of 
Florida,  Louisiana  and  Texas  were  severally  applied  by  the 
French  and  Spaniards  to  these  parts  of  North  America.  The 
present  work  will,  of  course,  not  embrace  the  history  of  the 
whole  division  of  the  continent  thus  originally  called  Flori- 

*  See  for  instance  the  "  Ensayo  Chronologico  para  la  Historia  de  Florida." — 
A  Chronological  history  of  Florida,  by  Don  Andres  Gonzales  Barcia,  under  the 
anagram  of  Gabriel  de  Cardenas  Z.  Cano,  Historiographer  to  the  crown  of  Spain, 
published  at  Madrid  in  1723, — in  which  all  the  events  in  the  English  and  French, 
as  well  as  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  are  related  as  parts 
of  the  history  of  his  Catholic  Majesty's  "great  Kingdom  of  Florida. v  The  work 
is  curious  and  valuable,  and  reference  will  be  frequently  made  to  it  in  the  follow 
ing  pages. 


THE   FIELD    OF   THIS   HISTORY.  7 

da;  nor  will  it,  on  the  other  hand,  be  confined  to  the  com 
paratively  small  portions  now  known  respectively  as  Florida,, 
Louisiana  and  Texas.  It  is  intended  to  present  in  the  first 
portions  of  these  volumes,  a  complete  account  of  the  discove 
ries  and  establishments  of  the  French  and  the  Spaniards,,  in 
the  regions  adjacent  to  the  northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf 
and  the  Mississippi,  which  were  first  explored  and  occupied 
by  the  people  of  those  nations;  as  well  as  of  the  various  dis 
putes  and  agreements  to  which  they  gave  rise,  until  those 
countries  were  incorporated  with  the  United  States,  of  which 
they  now  form  such  large  and  important  divisions. 

This  is  indeed  a  wide  field,  but  the  most  important  events 
have  occurred  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Mexican  Gulf 
or  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  which  will  accordingly  form  the 
principal  scenes  of  the  history.  These  events  have  been 
hitherto  presented,  either  in  works  specially  devoted  to  Flo 
rida,  Louisiana,  Texas,  or  to  the  States  in  which  they  are 
now  subdivided,  or  they  are  to  be  found  scattered  through 
the  annals  of  Spain,  France,  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States;  so  that  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  preserve 
the  connection  between  causes  and  effects,  so  essential  to 
render  a  history  reliable.  The  great  questions  which  have 
been  agitated  since  the  commencement  of  this  century  with 
regard  to  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  have  been,  in  con 
sequence,  almost  always  misrepresented  by  those  to  whom 
the  statesman  looks  for  information;  and  acts  of  signal  in 
justice  have  been  committed,  and  disputes  and  wars  between 
nations  have  arisen,  which  might  have  been  avoided  by  a 
display  of  the  historical  evidence  in  a  more  accurate  form. 
The  object  of  this  work  is  to  supply  the  want  thus  indicated, 
by  exhibiting  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  northern 
sides  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  as  a  whole;  and  tracing  their  con 
nections  with  each  other  and  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  afford  the  means  of  correcting  the 
errors  of  public  opinion  respecting  the  past,  and  of  equitably 
adjusting  the  important  questions  which  may  hereafter  be 
raised. 

The  early  history  of  these,  as  of  all  other  parts  of  America, 


8  THE   GREAT   NATURAL   DIVISIONS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 

must  necessarily  be  devoted  in  a  great  measure  to  the  details 
of  discoveries  and  explorations,  for  the  ready  comprehension 
of  which  a  general  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  the  coun 
tries  will  he  indispensable ;  and  a  sketch  of  the  principal 
natural  features  of  the  regions  drained  by  streams  entering 
the  Mexican  Gulf  on  the  north,  will  accordingly  be  presented, 
leaving  the  more  minute  description  of  particular  points  to 
the  part.s  of  the  work  specially  relating  to  them. 

As  an  introduction  to  this  view,  it  will  be  proper  first  to  re 
mark  the  North  American  continent  in  its  three  great  natural 
divisions  or  sections,  as  indicated  by  the  inclinations  of  its 
surface  towards  the  three  great  basins  of  the  ocean  upon 
which  it  borders.  Of  these  sections,  the  Arctic,  including 
all  the  territories  drained  by  streams  which  flow  into  the 
Arctic  or  North  Polar  Ocean,  forms  about  one-third  of  the 
continent.  It  would  be  needless  to  say  more  of  it  here,  tharx_ 
that  it  is  remarkable  from  the  general  smoothness  of  the 
surface,  and,  from  the  sterility  of  the  land  and  its  frosty  cli 
mate,  is  entirely  uninhabitable  by  a  fixed  population.  The 
Pacific  section,  embracing  all  west  of  the  great  chain  of 
mountains  which  traverses  both  the  continents,  nearly  par 
allel  to  their  western  coasts,  from  Behring's  Strait  to  the 
Strait  of  Magellan,  is  no  less  remarkable  from  the  irregulari 
ty  of  its  superficial  conformation  ;  being  almost  every  where 
intersected  by  lofty  ridges  separated  only  by  narrow  valleys. 

The  Atlantic  section  of  North  America  comprises  about 
2,204,887  square  miles,  or  one-seventh  of  the  whole  continent; 
and  of  this  portion  four-sevenths  are  drained  by  streams 
flowing  into  the  Mexican  Gulf,  which,  with  its  prolongation 
the  Caribbean  Sea,  may  be  considered  as  occupying  a  position 
in  the  New  World  similar  to  that  of  the  Mediterranean  in 
the  old.  A  particular  description  of  this  Gulf  will  be  re 
quired  in  this  place,  in  order  clearly  to  exhibit  the  peculiari 
ties  of  the  regions  which  it  separates — peculiarities  scarcely 
less  broad  and  striking  than  those  which  distinguish  Europe, 
Asia  and  Africa  from  each  other. 

The  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  a  part  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  occupy 
ing  a  wide  and  deep  recess  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Ameri- 


THE   GULF    OF   MEXICO   AND   ITS   STREAM.  ,       '    9 

can  continent,  between  the  18th  and  31st  parallels  of  latitude. 
In  form,  it  approaches  an  oval,  extending  in  greatest  length, 
from  east  to  west,  one  thousand  miles,  and  from  north  to 
south,  eight  hundred;  its  whole  superfices  being  about  six 
hundred  thousand  square  miles — rather  more  than  half  that 
of  the  Mediterranean  and  its  interior  seas.  On  the  east,  it 
communicates  with  the  Atlantic  by  two  passages,  which  are 
separated  by  the  interposition  of  the  great  island  o£  Cuba. 
By  the  northern  of  these  passages,  called  the  Bahama  Chan 
nel,  between  Cuba  and  the  southern  extremity  of  the  penin 
sula  of  Florida,  the  communication  is  direct  and  immediate: 
the  southern  passage,  between  Cuba  and  the  north-east  ex 
tremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Yucatan,  connects  the  Mexican 
Gulf  with  the  Carribbean  Sea,  which  joins  the  Atlantic  by 
numerous  openings  between  the  islands  of  the  West  Indian 
chain  or  archipelago.  Through  these  last  mentioned  open 
ings,  the  great  intertropical  current  caused  by  the  rotation 
of  the  earth,  enters  the  Carribbean  Sea,  the  waters  of  which, 
receiving  the  same  impulsion,  are  carried  between  Cuba  and 
Yucatan,  into  the  Mexican  Gulf.  This  powerful  current  then 
continues  along  the  shores  of  the  latter,  south-westward,  north 
ward,  eastward  and  south-eastward,  constantly  augmented  by 
the  influx  of  great  rivers,  and  rushes  out  through  the  Bahama 
Channel  between  Cuba' and  Florida,  forming  the  well  known 
Gulf-stream  of  the  Atlantic,  the  effects  of  which  are  percep 
tible  near  the  coasts  of  Europe.  The  force  of  this  current  is 
such  as  to  embarrass  the  entrance  of  vessels  into  the  Gulf 
by  the  northern  passage,  or  their  departure  from  it  by  the 
southern,  or  their  navigation  against  the  line  of  direction  of 
the 'waters  along  the  coasts  ;  so  that  those  propelled  by  wind 
are  obliged  usually  to  take  circuitous  courses,  in  order  to 
avail  themselves  of  eddies  or  counter  currents,  and  to  escape 
the  dangers  from  rocks  and  sand  banks,  on  which  they  might 
be  drifted  during  calms  or  whilst  their  true  position  cannot 
be  ascertained  by  astronomical  observations. 

Northward  from  the  Mexican  Gulf,  the  Atlantic  section  of 
America  extends  through  forty  degrees  of  latitude,  to  the 
Frozen  Ocean.     In  the  vast  distance  of  more  than  two  thou- 
2 


10  CHARACTER   OF   THE   LAND. 

sand  five  hundred  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of  nearly 
two  thousand,  the  only  notable  interruptions  of  the  continuity 
of  the  land,  are  presented  by  the  great  Lakes  communica 
ting  with  the  Atlantic  through  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Hud- 
sons  Bay  which  is  connected  with  the  same  ocean  by  Hudson's 
Strait;  while  the  only  remarkable  elevations  of  surface,  are 
those  of  the  Apalachian  or  Alleghany  chain,  which  stretches 
northward  from  the  33rd  degree  of  latitude  to  the  46th, 
separating  the  waters  flowing  directly  into  the  Atlantic,  from 
those  entering  it  through  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  north,  and 
through  the  Mississippi  on  the  west.  The  breadth  of  the 
continent  between  the  Mexican  Gulf  on  the  east  and  the 
Californian  Gulf  on  the  Pacific  side,  does  not  exceed,  at  the 
widest,  six  hundred  miles,  measured  on  the  28th  parallel  of 
latitude.  Farther  south  the  territory  separating  the  waters 
of  the  two  oceans  diminishes  gradually  in  width  until  it  is 
reduced  to  only  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  in  the  Isth 
mus  of  Guazecualco  or  Tehecantepec,  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  Mexican  Gulf, — over  which  one  of  the  great  lines  of 
travel  and  commerce  between  that  sea  and  the  Pacific,  is 
probably  destined  to  pass.  This  intervening  territory  west 
and  south  of  the  Gulf,  is  nearly  equally  divided,  by  the  ridge 
or  SIERRA  MADRE  of  the  chain  separating  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific  from  those  of  the  Atlantic,  whose  mountains  are 
often  visible  from  the  sea.  The  immediate  environs  of 
the  Gulf  are,  however,  flat  every  where  on  the  northern  and 
generally  on  the*other  sides;  and 'are  bordered,  in  many 
places,  by  low  and  narrow  islands,  enclosing  shallow  bays 
or  sounds,  into  which  several  of  the  larger  rivers  discharge 
their  waters.  The  only  islands  not  thus  immediately  con 
tiguous  to  the  mainland,  are  a  few  small  points  of  coral  rock 
and  sand,  within  a  hundred  miles  of  Yucatan  and  the  north 
ern  extremity  of  Florida,  which  contribute  to  increase  the 
dangers  of  the  navigation,  arising  from  the  force  of  the 
great  current  already  described. 

The  territories  north  of  the- Mexican  Gulf,  differ  in  climate 
no  less  than  surface  from  those  south  of  that  sea.  The 
latter  are  all  situated  in  the  torrid  zone,  and  are  rarely 


CHARACTERISTICS   OF   MEXICO — RIVERS — CLIMATE.  11 

visited  by  rain,  except  during  the  summer  months;  while 
the  northern  regions  are  at  all  times  subject  to  the  fall  of 
water  from  the  heavens,  though  usually  more  in  winter  than 
at  other  seasons  of  the  year.  From  these  differences  of 
climate  and  the  greater  extent  of  the  northern  division  of 
the  continent,  the  quantity  of  water  poured  into  the  gulf 
from  the  north,  greatly  exceeds  the  contributions  from 
the  other  side.  The  Mississippi  alone  supplies  more  than 
all  the  remaining  streams  together;  while  there  are  several 
other  rivers,  on  the  same  side,  superior  in  that  re*spect  to  the 
Santander,  the  Panuco,  the  Alvarado,  the  G-uazecualco,  the 
Tabasco  or  the  Usumasinta,  the  only  large  streams  emptying 
into  the  Gulf  from  the  south.  The  flow  of  water  from  the 
northern  territories  is  however  not  uniform  throughout  the 
year;  for  the  sources  of  the  greatest  rivers  are  situated  among 
mountains  on  which  the  snows  accumulate  in  winter  and  are 
melted  by  the  returning  sun,  so  as  to  produce  floods  in  the 
spring,  as  regular  as  those  occasioned  by  summer  rains  in 
northern  streams. 

Of  the  countries  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf, 
which  may  be  comprehended  under  the  general  name  of 
Mexico, — the  most  valuable  portions,  are  the  table  lands 
among  the  vast  mountain  chains,  where  the  climate  is  mild 
and  equal,  and  the  soil,  in  some  places,  very  fertile.  These 
portions,  have  supported,  and  still  support,  large  numbers 
of  people,  in  that  semi-civilized  state  which  is  so  favorable 
to  population,  where  the  wants  are  few  and  the  means  of 
subsistence  easily  attained;  but  they  are  small  in  extent, 
when  compared  with  the  whole  territor^v,  and  lie  in  patches 
or  tracts,  separated  from  each  other  by  high  ranges  of  rugged 
mountains,  or  by  wide  sandy  plains,  opposing  barriers  to  in 
tercourse,  which  must  ever  prove  disadvantageous  to  that 
division  of  the  New  World.  The  civilization  of  Europe  and 
the  United  States,  at  the  present  day,  while  it  stimulates 
labor  and  increases  its  products,  at  the  same  time  gives  rise 
to  new  necessities,  for  the  gratification  of  which,  each  portion 
of  a  country  must  have  facilities  of  communication  with  all 
other  parts  of  the  world;  and  in  these  facilities,  Mexico  must 


12  CHARACTERISTICS   OP   YUCATAN. 

be  always  deficient,  not  only  from  the  causes  indicated,  but 
also  from  the  want  of  good  harbors  and  the  general  insalu 
brity  of  the  regions  contiguous  to  the  eastern  and  western 
coasts. 

Some  of  the  low  countries  on  the  south-east  side  of  the 
Gulf,  have  however  supported  a  population,  not  inferior  to 
that  of  any  other  part  of  the  world,  in  comparison  with 
the  extent  of  their  surface.  A  large  part  of  the  peninsula 
of  Yucatan,  is  literally  covered  with  remains  of  edifices, 
scarcely  less  remarkable,  in  number,  extent,  or  elaborate 
ness,  than  those  of  Egypt  or  India;  erected  at  periods  where 
of  no  record  remains,  but  possibly  as  remote  as  those  in 
which  the  pyramids  were  raised,  or  the  temples  of  Ellora  ex 
cavated.  These  remains  demonstrate  not  only  the  populous- 
ness  of  the  country  and  the  advancement  of  its  inhabitants 
in  the  arts,  but  also  the  strength  and  long  duration  of 
their  political  system; — yet,  in  this  territory,  the  rains  are 
confined  to  a  few  weeks  of  every  year,  while  the  character 
and  form  of  the  surface  is  such,  that  very  few  streams  or 
springs  of  water  are  to  be  found  during  the  dry  season ;  so 
that  the  inhabitants  are  subjected  to  a  still  farther  tax  on 
their  labor,  for  the  construction  of  reservoirs,  scarcely  less 
remarkable  as  works  of  art  than  the  edifices  and  temples 
we  have  mentioned. 

In  a  description  of  the  countries  north  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  the  first  objects  of  attraction  should  be  the  rivers,  of 
which  not  less  than  ten,  of  large  size,  may  be  counted  enter 
ing  the  sea,  within  an  extent  of  coast,  of  as  many  hundred 
miles.  Several  of  these  streams  are  navigable  at  all  times, 
and  others,  during  their  floods,  to  considerable  distances  in 
the  interior;  some  however,  as  already  mentioned,  terminate 
in  shallow  bays  or  inlets,  forbidding  the  entrance  of  any  but 
the  smallest  vessels,  though  they  may  afford  a  free  passage 
to  those  of  much  larger  draught,  above  the  neighborhood  of 
their  mouths. 

Of  the  Mississippi,  the  chief  of  these  streams,  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  what  should  be  stated  in  a  limited  space.  The 
river  which,  under  that  name,  enters  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   AND    ITS   TRIBUTARIES.  13 

nearly  in  the  middle'  of  its  northern  coast,  at  the  29th 
parallel  of  latitude,  in  fact  traverses,  drains,  and  connects 
together  about  one-seventh  of  North  America,  comprehending 
the  greater  part  of  the  continent  between  the  parallel  above 
mentioned  and  the  48th  degree,  where  its  northern  sources 
are  to  be  found.  Over  this  vast  surface,  its  branches  spread 
in  all  directions ; — many  of  them  wide,  deep  and  rapid, 
affording  passage  for  large  vessels,  for  hundreds  and  even 
thousands  of  miles,  from  their  confluence  with  the  main 
trunk,  to  the  vicinity  of  the  sources  of  all  the  other  principal 
rivers  of  the  continent,  which  flow  either  into  the  Atlantic, 
the  Arctic,  or  the  Pacific  oceans,  directly  or  through  their 
great  gulfs  or  bays.  In  fact,  of  the  states  now  composing 
the  American  Federal  Republic,  not  less  than  twenty  contri 
bute  water  to  the  Mississippi;  and  of  these,  sixteen  commu 
nicate  with  the  Mexican  Gulf  by  navigable  streams  falling 
into  the  same  great  canal.* 

The  Mississippi,  which  is  called  the  main  stream,  though 
inferior  in  all  respects  to  the  Missouri  above  the  point  of 
their  union,  originates  near  the  48th  degree  of  latitude 
in  the  centre  of  the  North  American  continent,  immediately 
west  of  Lake  Superior,  and  after  flowing  for  some  distance, 
wide  and  deep,  it  crosses  a  ledge  of  rocks  under  the  45th 
parallel,  where  it  forms  the  celebrated  cataracts  known  as  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Near  the  43d  degree,  it  receives  the 
Wisconsin,  and  near  the  39th,  the  Illinois;  both  large  streams 
flowing  from  the  east,  of  which, — particularly  of  the  latter, — 
much  will  be  said  in  the  following  pages.  At  a  short  dis 
tance  "below  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  the  Missouri  rushes  in 
from  the  west,  and  the  waters  which  before  receiving  this 
accession,  were  comparatively  clear  and  smooth,  are  driven 
into  thick  and  yellow  whirlpools,  laden  with  mud  and  trunks 
of  trees,  brought  down  by  the  mighty  torrent.  The  Ohio 

New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Iowa, 
Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Mississippi,  and  Ala 
bama,  as  well  as  Minnesota,  may  be  and  are  reached  by  vessels  from  the  Mississip 
pi;  while  Maryland,  Michigan,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  send  forth  small 
streams  to  its  great  tributaries. 


14  THE   VALLEY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 

next  enters  under  the  37th  parallel,  bringing  its  waters  from 
the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  from  a 
vast  and  fertile  region  between  that  chain  and  the  Missis 
sippi;  though  it  appears  to  the  eye  to  increase  but  little,  the 
volume  or  force  of  the  great  river.  Farther  south,  many 
considerable  streams  flow  into  the  Mississippi  on  both  sides, 
but  no  very  large  ones  from  the  east;  while  on  the  west,  it 
receives  the  Arkansas  near  the  34th  degree,  and  the  Red 
River  near  the  31st,  which,  like  the  Missouri,  have  their 
sources  among  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  vicinity  of  those 
of  the  principal  rivers  emptying  into  the  Pacific. 

The  direct  distance  from  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  to 
its  mouth  is  about  fourteen  hundred  miles;  the  sinuosity  of 
the  river  is  however  so  great  that  the  line  of  its  passage  is 
nearly  double  that  length,  extending  thirteen  hundred  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  same  distance  below 
that  point.  In  its  course  southward  as  far  as  the  35th  degree, 
it  is  confined,  except  in  a  few  spots,  by  banks  of  sufficient 
height  to  prevent  its  overflow  at  any  time,  but  south  of  that 
parallel  the  country  in  most  places  on  the  eastern  side,  and 
everywhere  on  the  west,  lies  beneath  the  level  attained  by 
the  waters  in  their  usual  annual  floods,  and  consequently  is 
inundated  by  them  to  a  considerable  extent  in  each  direction. 
The  elevated  places,  on  the  eastern  side  of  this  portion,  are 
the  terminations  of  ridges  running  thither  south-westward 
from  tbe  Alleghany  mountains,,  and  some  of  them  form  high 
cliffs,  overhanging  the  stream.  The  low  country  on  the  west, 
increases  constantly  in  breadth  as  it  is  nearer  to  the  Gulf, 
on  which  it  extends  to  a  great  distance,  not  only  on  that  side, 
but  also  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi;  and  it  was 
probably,  at  some  period  long  past,  covered  by  an  arm  or 
prolongation  of  the  sea,  which  has  been  gradually  filled  up 
by  the  deposite  of  mud,  sand,  and  trees,  so  as  merely  to  leave 
a  passage  for  the  river.  In  this  manner  the  surface  of  the 
regions  liable  to  be  inundated  is  always  raised  after  each 
overflow,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  is  constantly  car 
ried  farther  south,  by  the  deposites  formed  about  it  on  the 
edge  of  the  Gulf. 


ALLUVION — FLOODS   OF   THE   RIVER.  15 

The  floods  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  are  the  results  of  the 
sudden  influx  of  water  from  its  great  tributaries,  produced 
either  by  the  melting  of  the  snows  in  the  mountains,  where 
their  sources  are  situated,  or  by  the  abundance  of  rain  during 
certain  seasons  of  the  year,  in  the  countries  through  which 
they  respectively  pass.  The  periods  of  the  influx  from  the 
different  streams  are  generally  regular  and  successive,  so 
that  the  waters  from  one  river  have  usually  been  carried  off 
by  the  great  trunk  to  the  sea,  before  those  from  another 
have  reached  it.  It  however  sometimes  occurs,  that  the 
floods  from  two  or  more  rivers  simultaneously,  enter  the  Mis 
sissippi  which  consequently  is  raised  above  the  usual  height 
and  extends  its  inundations  over  a  wider  space.  These  ex 
traordinary  floods  must  ever  be  very  injurious  to  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  countries  they  visit;  particularly  as  the  only 
means  as  yet  employed  and  perhaps  the  only  possible  means 
of  protection,  must  serve  to  increase  the  height  and  violence 
of  the  torrents.  The  artificial  embankments,  always  confin 
ing  the  river  to  its  channel,  and  preventing  it  from  spread 
ing,  necessarily  elevate  the  surface  at  the  floods,  and  they 
also  raise  the  bottom,  in  consequence  of  the  increase  of  the 
deposite  upon  it,  which  is  not  counterbalanced,  as  experience 
has  shown,  by  the  impulse  thus  given  to  the  rapidity  of  the 
current.  As  the  embankments  are  continued,  the  elevation 
of  the  river  above  the  surrounding  cpuntry  must  increase, 
unless  new  channels  are  opened  for  carrying  off  the  super 
abundant  waters  to  the  Gulf;  and  the  inhabitants  must  be 
placed  in  the  same  perilous  condition,  with  those  on  the 
lower  Po,  the  surface  of  which,  at  the  distance  of  six  miles 
only,  is  usually  above  the  level  of  the  roofs  of  the  high 
est  palaces  in  the  city  of  Ferrara. 

The  floods  acting  upon  the  soft  and  yielding  soil  which  in 
general  composes  the  borders  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  pro 
duce  constant  changes  in  its  course.  Tfius  its  banks,  on  the 
one  side  against  which  the  current  strikes,  are  undermined 
and  carried  away,  while  on  the  opposite  side,  where  the 
water  is  comparatively  tranquil,  deposites  of  mud  and  sand 
are  found,  which  gradually  rise  into  shores.  Moreover  the 


16  NAVIGATION    OF   THE    RIVER    AND   ITS   AFFLUENTS. 

necks  of  the  peninsulas  inclosed  by  the  innumerable  wind 
ings  of  the  stream,  are  frequently  cut  through,  and  new 
channels  are  thus  made,  the  old  ones  being  gradually  con 
verted  into  lakes  by  constant  deposites  at  their  extremities, 
and  then  filled  up  by  those  made  during  the  floods.  These 
changes  however  must  necessarily  be  confined  within  narrow 
limits,  except  perhaps  in  the  region  adjacent  to  the  Gulf, 
where  some  one  of  the  outlets,  now  inconsiderable,  may  be 
come  enlarged  either  naturally  or  by  artificial  aid,  so  as 
to  enable  it  to  carry  off  the  greater  part  of  the  waters. 

The  Mississippi  is  at  all  times  navigable  by  large  vessels 
to  the  mouths  of  all  its  principal  tributaries,  which  more 
over  may  be  ascended  to  great  distances,  except  when  their 
waters  are  very  low.  The  Red  River,  if  the  obstructions 
from  the  accumulation  of  drift  wood  were  removed,  and  the 
Arkansas,  might  be  thus  navigated  for  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  each,  during  a  certain  portion  of  the  year; — the  Ohio 
and  the  upper  Mississippi,  much  farther;  and  the  Missouri 
for  more  than  two  thousand  miles  to  its  falls, — beyond  which 
its  branches  extend,  wide  and  deep,  into  the  recesses  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

The  territory  drained  by  all  these  streams,  is  equal  to  two 
fifths  of  that  of  Europe.  Among  these  lands,  may  be  found 
every  form  of  surface,  from  the  wide  level  prairie,  or  the  soft 
marshy  alluvial,  to  the  rugged  mountain  peak: — their  cli 
mate  ranges  from  the  frozen  to  the  torrid;  they  produce, 
almost  every  article, — animal,  mineral  and  vegetable, — re 
quired  for  the  use  of  man;  while  every  facility  for  intercourse, 
among  the  different  portions  and  the  rest  of  the  world,  is 
presented  by  their  connected  rivers. 

A  large  portion  of  these  territories,  including  nearly  all 
west  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  sources  of  the  Red  River,  to 
those  of  the  Mississippi  proper,  are  indeed  irretrievably  bar 
ren,  and  other  portions,  especially  those  bordering  upon  the 
Gulf  are  unhealthy;  the  remainder  is  however  not  surpassed. 
by  any  other  division  of  the  earth  of  equal  extent,  in  fertility 
and  variety  of  productions,  in  amenity  and  salubrity  of 
climate,  and  in  facilities  for  communication  throughout.  In 


THE   OHIO   AND   ITS   AFFLUENTS.  17 

all  these  respects  the  advantages  of  the  Mississippi  and  its 
regions  are  peculiar.  Thus  the  Nile  receives  not  a  single 
stream,  within  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  the  sea,  in  which 
long  distance,  the  habitable  portion  of  its  valley  does  not 
extend  beyond  the  reach  of  its  waters  at  their  flood,  while  the 
communication  between  its  upper  and  lower  countries,  is 
interrupted  by  cataracts  and  other  impediments.  The  Kiver 
of  the  Amazons  is  probably  superior  to  the  Mississippi  in 
length,  in  volume  of  water  discharged,  and  in  extent  of  sur 
face  drained,  but  its  navigation,  is  rendered  unsafe  by  numer 
ous  whirlpools  and  rapids,  while  the  regions  through  which 
it  passes,  all  .situated  within  the  torrid  zone,  and  near  the 
Equator,  differ  so  little  in  climate  soil  and  productions,  that 
few  inducements  are  offered  to  the  inhabitants  of  any  one 
portion,  to  go  to  another,  thus,  in  a  great  measure,  prevent 
ing  the  healthy  circulation  of  commerce.  The  same  obser 
vations  may  be  applied  with  few  restrictions,  to  the  Kio  de 
la  Plata,  and  the  Ganges; — of  the  other  great  rivers  of  the 
world,  nothing  is  known,  calculated  to  throw  doubts  upon 
the  claim  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  first  place,  as  a  channel 
or  link  for  commercial  intercourse. 

It  would  be  incompatible  with  the  plan  of  this  work  to  de 
scribe  particularly  the  great  streams  which  flow  into  and 
form  the  Mississippi.  The  Ohio  and  its  principal  confluents 
— the  Tennessee,  Cumberland,  Wabash,  Miami,  Kenhawa, 
and  Alleghany, — bring  to  the  main  river  of  our  country  the 
tributes  of  a  vast  region  on  the  east,  destined,  probably,  to 
sustain  a  population  equal  to  any  other  of  the  same  extent 
on  the  globe.  The  lower  portions  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri,  and  their  tributaries,  the  Illinois,  Des  Moines,  and 
Osage,  flow  through  regions  no  less  fertile  and  salubrious; 
while  the  territories  drained  by  the  Arkansas  are  not  so  val 
uable  as  those  already  described,  nor  are  they  equal  in  fer 
tility  to  the  valley  of  the  Red  River,  which,  of  itself,  would 
be  sufficient  to  form  a  rich  and  productive  empire. 

From  this  difference  in  the  extent  and  surface. of  the  coun 
tries  surrounding  the  Mexican  Gulf,  the  quantity  of  water 
poured  into  it  from  the  continent  is  greater  on  the  northern 

3 


18  STREAMS   OF   THE   EAST   COAST. 

than  on  the  other  sides.  South  of  the  Kio  Bravo,  which 
enters  the  Gulf  on  the  west  near  the  26th  degree  of  latitude, 
no  stream  is  to  be  found  comparable  in  magnitude  with  many 
falling  into  that  sea  farther  north  ;  while  the  Mississippi  sup 
plies  a  much  larger  amount  of1  water,  and  drains  a  much 
more  extensive  territory  than  all  the  others  together.  Be 
tween  these  two  principal  rivers  are  the  Colorado,  the  Brazos, 
the  Trinity,  and  the  Sabine;  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
Tombigbee,  the  Alabama  and  the  Apalachicola,  all  naviga 
ble  hundreds  of  miles  in  the  interior,  besides  many  others 
which  are  only  small  by  contrast  with  those  in  their  vicinity. 
The  peninsula  gives  origin  to  numerous  small  streams  fall 
ing  into  the  seas  on  both  sides;  and  to  one  large  river,  the 
St.  John,  which  traverses  it  in  nearly  its  whole  length  from 
south  to  north,  discharging  its  waters  into  the  Atlantic  near 
the  line  of  junction  with  the  mainland. 

The  Apalachicola,  the  Alabama  and  the  Tombigbee  all 
have  their  sources  among  the  southernmost  ridges  of  the  Al- 
leghany  or  Apalachian  chain,  which  thence  extends  north 
eastward  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  The  countries  tra 
versed  by  these  rivers  are  among  the  most  fertile  and  agree 
able  in  America  or  in  the  world,  and  are  perhaps  destined 
to  contain  a  vast  population:  yet  they  remained,  as  will  be 
shown,  neglected  and  almost  unknown  for  nearly  three  cen 
turies  after  their  discovery.  The  Sabine  and  the  Trinity  flow 
through  plains  or  undulating  regions,  probably  exceeding  in 
natural  advantages  those  first  mentioned  east  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  The  Brazos  and  the  Colorado  rise  in  the  elevated  re 
gion  adjoining  New  Mexico,  from  which  they  however  derive 
but  a  small  proportion  of  their  waters,  that  being  the  most 
arid  and  sterile  portion  of  America,  east  of  the  great  dividing 
ridge  of  the  Eocky  Mountains.  The  lower  countries  through 
which  they  flow,  though  generally  less  inviting  than  those 
farther  east,  include  nevertheless  many  large  tracts  of  terri 
tory  capable  of  yielding  the  most  valuable  productions  in 
abundance.  " 

The  Rio  Bravo,  Eio  Grande,  or  Rio  del  Norte, — each  of 
which  names  it  bears  in  different  parts  of  its  valley, — is  more 


THE  RIO    GRANDE   AND   ITS   VALLEY.  19 

remarkable  for  length  than  for  the  extent  of  surface  if  drains, 
or  the  quantity  of  water  it  discharges.  No  other  river  in 
the  world,  except  the  Nile,  receives  such  inconsiderable  ac 
cessions  in  so  great  a  distance  from  source  to  mouth.  Kising 
among  the  Eocky  Mountains,  near  the  40th  degree  of  lati 
tude,  it  flows  southwardly  along  the  base  of  that  chain,  from 
whose  eastern  declivity  it  collects  the  waters  in  a  course  of 
eight  hundred  miles  before  turning  towards  the  sea.  Thus 
far,  in  its  transit,  it  is  the  "Rio  del  Norte" — the  River  of  the 
North; — in  the  other  eight  hundred  miles  of  its  journey  to 
the  Gulf,  it  is  the  "Rio  Grande"— the  Great  River,— or,  "Rio 
Bravo" — the  Bold  River; — and  is,  probably,  the  same  known 
in  the  sixteenth  century  as  the  River  of  Palms.  Its  only 
confluents,  of  any  size,  are  the  Rio  Puerco,  or  Muddy,  and 
the  Rio  de  Conchos,  both  of  which  remain  dry  during  a  con 
siderable  portion  of  the  year.  Indeed,  except  in  summer, 
when  rain  is  most  abundant,  and  the  snows  are  melting  on 
the  sierras,  this  celebrated  river  is  evidently  less,  at  its  mouth, 
than  at  the  distance  of  a  thousand  miles  above! 

The  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  or  Rio  Bravo,  seems  design 
ed  by  nature  as  a  barrier  between  nations.  If  a  line  be  drawn 
through  the  channel  of  the  stream,  from  mouth  to  source, 
and  thence  northwardly,  direct  to  the  western  extremity  of 
Lake  Superior,  a  great  extent  of  territory  on  both  sides  will 
be  found  to  include  very  few  spots  not  absolutely  uninhabita 
ble.  Proceeding  westward  from  the  line  thus  indicated,  these 
peculiarities  increase,  until  we  reach  a  broad  desert  stretch 
ing  northward,  from  the  southernmost  point  of  the  Califor- 
nian  peninsula,  through  the  whole  extent  of  our  continent. 
This  inhospitable  region  will,  in  all  likilehood  not  only  re- 
remain  uninhabited  except  by  the  most  sparse  and  reckless 
population,  but  can  hardly  be  traversed  without  imminent 
danger  from  want  of  food  and  water.  A  similar  belt  of 
desolation, — rather  narrower  but  quite  as  sterile — intervenes 
on  the  south,  between  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Bravo  and  the 
productive  districts  of  Mexico ;  so  that  the  two  flanks  of  this 
wilderness  are  completely  sundered,  while  their  differences 
of  climate,  surface,  productions,  and  of  all  the  circumstances 


20  ABORIGINAL   POPULATION. 

which,  influence  the  habits  and  character  of  men,  would  very 
soon  destroy  community  of  feelings  and  interest  between 
people  of  the  same  stock. 

Such,  at  least,  would  seem  to  be  the  decree  of  nature,  if 
Geography  alone  were  allowed  to  decide  the  intercourse  of 
mankind;  yet  under  the  stimulus  of  trade,  the  quest  of 
precious  metals,  and  the  inventive  power  of  Art,  even  these 
lonely  wastes  may  become  the  highways  of  continuous 
traffick,  and  the  regions  they  separate  be  linked  together 
by  the  controlling  influence  of  commerce. 

The  history  of  the  Aboriginal  inhabitants  must  begin 
with  their  discovery  by  Europeans  in  the  XVI.  century,  for 
no  reliable  record  or  tradition  regarding  them  has  been  pre 
served  for  our  instruction.  In  fact,  very  little  was  known 
of  the  land  or  its  people  till  a  much  later  period,  yet  the 
narratives  of  the  first  discoverers,  correspond  sufficiently 
with  those  since  obtained,  to  warrant  the  assumption  that,  in 
the  interval,  no  material  change  had  occurred  in  the  charac 
ter,  customs,  and  languages  of  the  natives.  Indeed,  their 
condition  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  may  be  said 
to  have  been  identical  with  that  of  two  hundred  years  before. 
The  Indians  of  those  days  were  all  savages,  of1  a  dusky-red 
or  copper  color ;  with  dark  hazel  or  black  eyes ;  straight, 
stiff,  black  hair ;  prominent  cheekbones,  and  other  well  known 
peculiarities  common  to  aboriginal  Americans  and  distin 
guishing  them  from  the  people  of  all  other  regions.  They 
are  not,  however,  to  be  classed  among  the  lower  grades  of 
barbarians.  Although  they  engaged  in  war  and  subsisted 
chiefly  by  the  chase,  yet,  for  a  large  portion  of  the  year,  they 
dwelt  in  huts,  clad  themselves  in  skins,  engaged  their  women 
in  agriculture,  and  possessed  at  least  the  rudiments  of  social, 
political,  and  religious  systems.  A  number  of  individuals 
occupying  a  certain  tract,  composed  a  tribe,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  a  chief  or  chiefs  whose  tenure  of  office  was  generally 
hereditary ;  while  a  number  of  such  tribes  formed  a  confede 
racy  or  nation,  whose  sovereignty  reposed  either  in  some 
distinguished  individual,  or,  more  commonly,  in  an  aristoc- 


THEIR    RELIGION   AND    ORIGIN.  21 

racy  of  hereditary  chiefs.  The  right  of  succession  invariably 
passed,  among  all  the  savage  nations  of  North  America, 
through  the  female  line;  so  that,  as  a  general  rule,  no  man 
was  allowed  to  marry  a  woman  of  his  own  tribe,  while,  at  his 
death,  a  chief  was  succeeded  by  the  son  of  his  nearest  female 
relation. 

Their  religious  ideas  were  exceedingly  vague.  All  the 
tribes  are  said  to  have  entertained  some  notions  of  an  over 
ruling  providence  and  of  a  future  existence ;  yet,  so  far  as 
these  elements  of  spiritual  government  are  known  to  have 
controlled  the  aborigines,  they  seem  to  have  increased  rather 
than  mitigated  their  licentiousness  and  ferocity.  Moral  ob 
ligations  appear  to  have  been  unknown ; — their  wisdom  was 
but  cunning;  and  generosity  or  confidence  were  considered 
only  as  evidences  of  folly  and  weakness. 

Much  has  been  written,  in  regard  to  these  and  other  abo 
rigines  of  the  New  World,  to  prove  their  descent  from  the 
people  of  the  Old  World,  or  to  show,  at  least,  that  the  Mexi 
can  and  Peruvian  civilizations  were  imported  from  Europe  or 
Asia.  Upon  these  subjects,  every  thing  that  is  known  should, 
perhaps,  be  stated,  or,  the  question  should  be  left  altogether 
untouched.  It  appears,  however,  to  be  now  generally  con 
ceded  that  neither  anatomy  nor  natural  history;  neither  as 
tronomy  nor  the  languages,  habits,  mechanical  arts,  sciences, 
governments,  religions,  and  ceremonies  of  the  aborigines, 
compared  with  those  of  the  Old  World  at  any  period. with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  afford  sufficient  grounds  for  believ 
ing  that  communications  had  taken  place  between  the  conti 
nents.  Whatever  seems  identical,  is,  in  all  likelihood,  but 
the  result  of  the  common  nature  and  wants  of  the  human 
race;  while  the  variations  are  sufficient  to  show  that,  if  inter 
course  ever  occurred,  it  could  only  have  been  at  a  period  al 
most  infinitely  remote. 

Of  the  nations  or  confederacies  occupying  the  countries 
adjacent  to  the  northern  sides  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  more  will 
not  be  said,  at  present,  than  may  be  necessary  to  show  their 
respective  positions.  It  should  however  be  observed,  that 
the  names  by  which  Indian  nations  are  known  among  us, 


THEIR   NAMES. 

are,  in  many  cases,  inaccurate  as  to  the  people  to  whom 
they  are  applied — some  being  of  European  origin,  while 
many  are  merely  epithets  of  ridicule  or  abuse  bestowed  by 
the  people  of  other  countries.  The  narratives  of  the  early  ex 
peditions  of  the  Spaniards,  French  and  English,  through  the 
New  World,  vary  considerably  in  regard  to  names,  not  only 
of  nations,  but  also  of  countries,  towns,  rivers  and  lakes;  and 
these  discrepancies  will  be  found  not  merely  between  accounts 
of  different  expeditions,  but  between  accounts  of  the  same 
expedition,  and  even  where  the  names  are  expressly  given 
as  obtained  directly  from  the  natives  of  the  country  visited. 
This  is  however  not  surprising;  for  independently  of  the  ob 
stacles  to  a  clear  communication  of  ideas  between  parties  en 
tirely  ignorant  of  each  others'  tongue,  and  the  difficulty  of 
expressing  the  sound  of  one  language  by  the  orthography  of 
another,  experience  shows  that  barbarians  rarely  have  fixed 
or  precise  appellations  for  the  objects  above  mentioned,  to 
which  they  usually  apply  general  terms,  with  the  occasional 
addition  of  some  qualification  suggested  by  local  circum 
stances.  Thus,  the  names  given,  by  savages,  to  rivers,  lakes, 
and  seas,  will  commonly  be  found  to  mean  water;  their 
country  is  the  land;  their  town  is  the  tcnvn,  and  they  them 
selves  are  men* 

*  Many  instances,  in  proof  of  these  observations,  will  be  cited  in  the  following 
pages,  and  many  others  might  be  adduced.  Thus,  the  Esquimaux  of  the  polar 
regions  are  called  Eski-mautik  or  fish-eaters,  by  which  name  they  were  known  on 
the  St.  Lawrence.  The  Iroquois  are  said  to  have  been  so  called  by  the  French, 
from  their  frequent  use  of  an  exclamation  of  approval,  resembling  Irok  in  sound; 
while  the  Hurons  received  their  name  from  their  mode  of  dressing  the  hair,  so  as 
to  resemble  the  hure  or  head  of  the  wild  boar.  The  Muscoghees  were  termed 
Creeks  by  the  English  traders,  from  the  number  of  small  streams  in  their  country. 
The  natives  of  the  region  on  the  ^vest  side  of  the  Mississippi  near  the  Gulf,  were 
distinguished  by  the  odious  and  unjust  title  of  Attakappas  and  Okelousas,  or  red 
man  eaters,  among  those  of  the  left  bank  of  the  great  river.  The  wandering  Ca- 
manches  call  themselves  Patoka ;  the  bold  Dacotas  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  dis 
dain  the  unmeaning  appellation  of  Sioux,  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  early  French 
traders.  The  great  river  itself  bore  an  infinite  number  of  names  in  different  re 
gions  through  which  it  flows  ;  the  Indians  dwelling  on  its  upper  waters,  called  it 
Meseha-sibia,  Missi-sippi,  meaning  Great  Water  ;  among  the  Chickasas,  who  reach 
ed  it  at  the  Chickasa  Bluffs,  it  was  River 'of  the  Cliffs,  and  the  Choctas  knew  it  as 
Okinna-chitta,  Great  Water-path. 


TRIBAL   DIVISIONS   AND   DISTRIBUTION.  23 

Considering  these  countries  as  divided  by  the  Mississippi, 
we  find  the  eastern  portion  inhabited,  at  the  earliest  period 
to  which  our  knowledge  extends,  by  several  great  tribal  con 
federacies.  On  the  coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  from  the  Santee 
to  the  southern  part  of  the  peninsula  of  Florida  and  the  con 
tiguous  islands,  the  dominant  nation  was  the  Yamassee,  a 
bold  race,  long  the  terror  of  Spaniards  and  afterwards  of  Eng 
lishmen,  by  whom,  with  the  aid  of  other  Indians,  they  were 
exterminated  about  the  year  1725.  Farther  west,  on  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Alatamaha,  the  Chattahoochee  or  Apa- 
lachicola,  and  the  Alabama,  dwelt  the  Muscoghees — since 
called  Creeks  by  English  traders — the  most  extensive  and 
powerful  of  all  those  nations,  emigrants  from  which,  under 
the  name  of  Istisemoles  or  Seminoles, — meaning  wildmen  or 
runaways, — were  constantly  invading  the  peninsula  of  Flo 
rida,  and  driving  the  aboriginal  Calos  or  Calooses  to  its 
southern  extremity.  Still  farther  west,  on  the  Mobile  and 
Pearl  rivers,  near  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  were  the  Choctas,  fierce, 
cunning  and  false,  the  most  influential  power  of  the  lower 
Mississippi  regions;  while  immediately  adjoining  them  on 
^he  north,  between  the  headwaters  of  the  Tombigbee  and 
those  of  the  Yazoo,  was  the  small  but  compact  and  resolute 
nation  of  the  Chickasas,  ever  at  war  with  the  Choctas,  from 
whose  confederacy  they  were  most  probably  seceders.  The 
simple  and  hardy  Cherokees  possessed  the  mountains,  in 
which  lie  the  head-springs  of  the  Savannah,  the  Chattahoo 
chee,  the  Tennessee,  the  Cumberland  and  the  Santee,  secured 
from  all  attacks,  by  the  inaccessibility  and  uninviting  char 
acter  of  their  country.  Lastly,  between  the  Cherokees  and 
the  Atlantic,  in  the  regions  of  the  Santee  and  the  Pedee,  were 
the  Catabas,  inferior  to  none  of  their  neighbors  in  courage, 
cunning  or  any  of  the  other  virtues  of  savage  life. 

Interspersed  among  these  great  confederacies,  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  were  numerous  smaller  ones,  of  whom  little  more 
is  known  than  their  names,  though  they  appear  to  have  been 
each  attached  to  the  greater  nations  either  as  allies  or  sub 
jects.  Of  these  should  be  mentioned  the  lichees,  dwelling 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Chattahoochee  below  its  falls,  who 


24  TBIBAL  DIVISIONS   AND   DISTRIBUTION. 

though  forming  part  of  the  Muscoghee  confederacy,  spoke  a 
language  not  corresponding  in  a  single  word  or  point  of  con 
struction,  with  that  of  any  other  people  with  which  it  has 
heen  compared.  Another  remarkable  nation  was  the  Natches, 
on  tWte  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  less  erratic  in  their 
habits,  more  systematic  in  their  forms  of  government  and 
religion,  hut,  at  the  same  time,  more  ferocious  and  licentious 
than  any  other  savages  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  except 
those  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  These  Indians,  though 
known  by  a  different  name,  were  probably  only  a  separate 
portion  of  the  same  nation,  as  they  resembled  each  other  in 
all  respects.  Here  also  was  presented  an  anomaly  more  cu 
rious  even  than  that  observed  in  the  Uchees;  for,  among  the 
Natches  were  two  tribes  apparently  equal  in  rank  with  the 
others,  and  having  as  far  as  is  known,  the  same  forms  of 
government  and  religion,  and  the  same  customs,  though  each 
spoke  a  language  entirely  distinct  from  any  other  used  in 
the  country.* 

The  regions  between  the  Ohio  river,  the  Lakes  and  the 
Mississippi,  were  occupied  by  numerous  nations,  of  whom 
little  is  known,  except  of  those  in  the  lands  traversed  by  the 
Illinois  river,  where  an  extensive  confederacy  was  establish 
ed,  calling  themselves  Linni,  or  Illini,  or  Innini,  meaning 
Men, — the  Illinois, — so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  early 
history  of  Louisiana.  East  of  them,  in  the  countries  travers 
ed  by  the  Wabash  and  the  Miami,  were  the  Miamis  or  Twit- 
towees;  while  interspersed  among  them,  were  the  powerful 
Shawnees,  emigrants  no  doubt  from  some  distant  land,  speak 
ing  a  language  wholly  different  from  any  other  as  yet  ex 
amined,  and  distinguished  by  their  boldness  and  nomadic 
habits. 

Still  farther  east,  between  the  head  streams  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  Hudson,  the  whole  territory  south  of  Lake  Ontario 
was  possessed  by  the  celebrated  confederacy  of  the  Five  Na 
tions — Seneca,  Cayuga,  Oneida,  Onondaga,  and  Mohawk, — 
called  Iroquois  by  the  French;  whose  influence,  in  surround- 

*  See  the  particular  account  of  the  Natches,  page  301  et  seq. 


25 

ing  regions,  was  more  constant  and  extensive  than  that  of 
any  other  Indian  people  north  of  the  Mexican  G-ulf. 

All  the  aboriginal  nations  dwelling  between  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  Atlantic,  derived  most  of  their  subsistence  from 
agriculture;  those  farther  north  and  east  were  supported  al 
most  entirely  by  hunting  or  fishing,  and  much  more  deserved 
the  name  of  barbarians  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  lands 
bordering  the  Mexican  Gulf.  Of  the  early  condition  of  the 
Indians  west  of  the  Mississippi,  but  few  and  unsatisfactory 
accounts  have  been  preserved.  The  only  extensive  confede 
racy  known  to  have  existed  in  that  quarter, — resembling  in 
character  or  customs  the  people  east  of  the  Mississippi,- — was 
that  of  the  Cenis,  occupying  the  country  between  the  Sabine 
and  the  Trinity,  from  one  of  whose  tribes  that  part  of 
America  derived  its  name  of  Texas.  On  the  Red  river  re 
sided  many  small  nations,  the  most  noted  of  whom,  in  his 
tory,  were  the  Adayes,  the  Natchitoches,  the  Nasonis,  and 
the  Cadadokios.  Beyond  the  Trinity  the  country  was  thinly 
inhabited:  the  people  on  the  sea  coast  supported  themselves 
chiefly  on  roots  and  fish ;  while  the  headwaters  of  the  streams 
were  the  haunts  of  sturdy  wanderers,  known  under  the  names 
of  Apaches,  Camanches,  and  Li  pans,  who  subsisted  wholly 
by  the  chase  of  buffaloes  in  the  more  northern  prairies. 

Of  the  religious,  social,  and  political  systems  of  these  abo 
rigines,  the  very  little  that  is  known  has  been  acquired  at  a 
comparatively  recent  period,  when  long  intercourse  with 
civilized  people  had  obliterated  many  characteristic  traits. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  at  the  discovery,  as  well  as  in 
later  days,  the  Indians  of  these  regions  were  infinitely  divi 
ded,  each  nearly  independent,  but,  in  most  cases,  forming 
groups  cemented  by  conquest,  community  of  speech,  or  any 
other  simple  bonds  of  union.  Their  languages  were  numer 
ous,  though  nearly  all  bore  degrees  of  resemblance  in  con 
struction,  which  were  sufficient  to  indicate  the  likelihood  of 
a  common  origin.  Thus,  contiguous  tribes  generally  under 
stood  each  other,  while  the  inhabitants  of  large  tracts  might 
be  said  to  speak  the  same  tongue,  though  the  dialects  of  any 
two  tribes  dwelling  some  distance  apart  differed  considerably. 


26  TRIBAL  GOVERNMENTS. 

Tribes,  or  groups  of  tribes,  were  found,  however,  without 
a  word  use'd  by  any  of  those  surrounding  them;  while,  in 
some  instances,  two  or  three  languages,  radically  distinct, 
were  spoken  by  different  portions  of  the  confederates  of  the 
same  nation,  and  even  of  the  same  village.  These  anomalies 
were  especially  noticed  in  the  vicinity  of  large  streams,  and 
evidently  arose  from  the  mixture  of  people  caused  by  the  fa 
cility  of  emigration.  Between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rio 
Bravo,  the  nations  have  been  as  yet  less  carefully  studied, 
and  their  relations  to  each  other,  as  well  as  their  individual 
traits,  are,  of  course,  still  historically  undetermined. 

As  to  the  forms  of  aboriginal  government,  the  law  of  force 
was  probably  paramount; — the  weak  in  body,  mind,  or  tribal 
power,  became  subject  to  stronger  organizations,  and  the  re 
spectful  acquiescence  acquired  by  one  through  his  superiority, 
ripened,  in  time,  into  hereditary  right.  Nothing  however, 
like  a  regular  monarchical  system,  or  absolute  despotism, 
seems  to  have  been  tolerated  among  any  of  these  nations. 
They  were  generally  governed  by  persons  distinguished  in 
war  or  council,  or  by  their  descendants;  and  in  the  history 
of  the  discovery  of  these  regions  or  of  the  attempt  to  occupy 
them,  we  rarely  find  any  individual  singled  out  for  over 
weening  power,  or  even  influence,  over  his  people. 

The  preceding  general  observations  with  regard  to  the 
natives  found  by  Europeans  in  the  countries  bordering  upon 
the  northern  sides  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  may  be  applied  with 
little  variation  to  the  aborigines  of  any  other  large  portion 
of  the  New  World,  except  the  regions  intervening  between 
that  Gulf  and  the  Pacific  on  the  south,  and  of  the  southern 
continent  extending  upon  the  latter  sea  for  some  distance 
south  of  the  equator.  In  each  of  these  last-mentioned  por 
tions  of  America,  known  by  the  general  but  incorrect  names 
of  Mexico  and  Peru,  the  people  were  at  the  time  of  their 
discovery  by  Europeans,  far  advanced  in  the  'arts  of  social 
life,  and  even  in  many  of  the  sciences;  while  their  monu 
ments  and  records  prove  that  this  redemption  from  the  sav 
age  state  was  possibly  coeval  with  the  dawn  of  civilization 
in  the  Old  World.  Inferior  monuments  have  been  discover- 


THEIR   ARTS   AND   EDIFICES.  27 

ed  in  several  places  on  the  continent,  and  in  the  countries 
traversed  by  the  upper  streams  of  the  Kio  Bravo,  the  Colo 
rado,  Gila,  and  the  Yaqui, — midway  between  the  Mexican 
and  the  California!!  Gulfs, — but  the  history  of  those  who 
reared  them  is  as  yet  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In  all  other 
parts  of  America,  from  the  Arctic  Sea  to  the  Straits  of  Ma 
gellan,  nothing  is  left  to  show  that  the  natives  had  ever 
arisen  above  the  condition  of  those  who  at  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century  were  found  occupying  the  regions 
north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  its  eastern  tributaries 
and  many  parts  of  the  continent  between  the  Alleghany 
mountains  and  the  Atlantic,  contain  extensive  mounds, 
ramparts,  and  terraces  of  earth  and  unhewn  rock,  among 
which  a  few  grotesque  idols  of  clay  or  stone,  resembling  those 
of  the  Mexicans,  and  some  metallic  ornaments,  have  been 
discovered.  These  works  tend  to  justify  the  presumption, 
that  the  people  by  whom  they  were  formed  were  more  nu 
merous  and  more  inclined  to  labor,  than  their  successors  of 
a  recent  period;  but  they  indicate  no  superiority  in  the  arts 
of  civilized  life,  possessed  by  any  one  of  the  Indian  nations 
occupying  those  countries  at  the  time  of  their  discovery.* 

The  history  of  these  countries  is  of  a  less  romantic  cast 
than  that  of  the  regions  farthej  south,  while  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  perhaps,  not  less  worthy  the  attention  of  philoso 
phers  and  statesmen.  North  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  there  were 
no  rich  and  populous  nations  to  plunder  and  enslave; — the 
people  were  savage,  and  the  land,  though  offering  to  industry 
all  that  it  could  desire,  held  out  no  temptations  to  adven 
turers.  The  same  spirit  however  which  led  the  Spaniards 
to  Mexico  and  Peru,  directed  their  first  expeditions  to  Flori 
da;  and  the  same  rude  hands  that  tortured  Montezuma, 
Guatimozin,  and  Atapualpa,  were  afterwards  employed  in  the 

*  These  Ancient  Works  have  been  brought  distinctly  before  the  world,  by  the 
account  of  them  presented  in  the  various  explorations  of  Earth  Works  in  the  val 
ley  of  the  Mississippi,  published  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  within  the  last 
six  or  seven  years.  Mr.  Gallatin  was  mistaken  in  his  assertion  that  not  one  of  these 
mounds  ;'has  ever  been  found  east  of  the  Alleghany  mountains." 


28         EUROPEAN   MOTIVES   FOR   DISCOVERY   OR   SETTLEMENT. 

vain  search  for  gold  on  the  Savannah,  and  the  Bed  river; 
for  pearls  among  the  muscle  shoals  of  the  Tennessee;  or  in 
despoiling  the  poor  Catabas,  Muscoghees  and  Choctas  of  their 
corn  and  bear's  feet.  These  expeditions  were  made  by  the 
Spaniards,  before  an  Englishman  had  occupied  the  American 
continent;  while  the  first  establishments  of  the  French  and 
Spaniards,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  long 
preceded  the  examinations  of  those  -regions  by  any  other  civ 
ilized  people.  No  Englishman  had  seen  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  when  Joliet  and  Marquette  explored  it  from  the 
Wisconsin  to  the  Arkansas,  or  when  La  Salle  completed  the 
survey  of  its  course  to  the  sea.  Expectations  even  more  ex 
travagant  of  attaining  wealth  and  dominion  by  the  occupa 
tion  and  commerce  of  the  territories  traversed  by  the  great 
river,  subsequently  led  the  French,  for  some  time,  to  exert 
themselves  in  peopling  that  portion  of  America;  while  the 
apprehension  of  their  success  brought  the  Spaniards  into  the 
regions  next  adjoining  on  the  west;  and  though  the  spirit 
thus  raised  soon  sank  into  indifference,  its  consequences  were 
very  important  in  determining  the  fate  of  the  American 
world.  The  English,  meanwhile,  in  search  of  permanent 
homes  came  quietly  in  small  parties,  seldom  exceeding  a  few 
families;  and,  under  the  nominal  protection  of  charters  from 
their  government,  settled  on  the  Atlantic  coasts,  whence 
they  gradually  made  their  way  into  the  interior,  until  they 
came  into  collision  with  the  colonies  of  other  and  more 
adventurous  Europeans. 

With  these  geographical  and  ethnological  outlines  of  the 
regions  to  be  first  examined,  we  shall  proceed  to  the  history 
of  their  discovery  and  planting. 


1493.]  FIRST    DISCOVERIES    IN    THE    WEST    INDIES.  29 

The  discovery  of  the  countries  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf 
which  we  are  now  to  consider,  began  within  twenty  years 
after  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus  across  the  Atlantic.  That 
voyage  was  made,  as  every  one  knows,  under  the  supposi 
tion,  then  reasonably  entertained  by  Geographers,  that  Asia  ex 
tended  eastward  to  the  Atlantic,*  and  with  the  hope,  no  less 
reasonable,  of  reaching  the  south-eastern  portion  of  that  conti 
nent,  to  which  the  general  name  of  India,  or  The  Indies,  wras 
applied  in  Europe,  through  a  western  route,  more  direct  and  ex 
peditious  than  any  other  then  believed  to  be  practicable.  The 
islands  thus  found  by  Columbus,  were  in  consequence  regarded 
as  lying  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  great  empire,  of  Cathay 
or  China,  the  farthermost  part  of  the  Indies,  of  the  extraordinary 
wealth,  population  and  refinement  of  which,  accounts  had  been 
brought  to  Europe  by  the  Venitian  traveller  Marco  Polo,  two 
centuries  before;  and  they  were  accordingly  called  the  West 
Indies,  and  their  inhabitants  were  styled  Indians,  and  these  ap 
pellations  \vere  in  time  extended  to  all  the  countries  and  people 
found  on  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  name  America, 
first  proposed  in  1507  by  a  schoolmaster  of  Lorraine,!  was  never 

*  This  idea  will  be  found  expressed  in  all  the  maps  of  the  world,  constructed 
during  the  forty  years,  immediately  following  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus,  and 
in  many  of  a  more  recent  date.  The  map  of  the  world,  by  Ruysch,  in  the  Latin 
edition  of  Ptolomey's  Geography,  published  at  Rome  in  1508,  represents  New 
foundland  as  the  easternmost  point  of  Asia,  that  is  to  say,  as  occupying  the  place 
of  Kamtchatka ;  farther  southwest,  Cathay  or  China  corresponds  with  the  At 
lantic  States  of  the  American  Union,  its  seaport  city  of  Zaitoun  or  Amoy,  hold 
ing  the  position  of  St.  Augustine  ;  and  still  farther  in  the  same  direction,  Bangala 
or  Bengal  appears  instead  of  Mexico,  from  which  the  east  coast  of  India  extends 
to  its  termination  opposite  the  island  of  Ceylon.  The  West  India  islands,  appear 
at  about  the  same  distances,  from  the  south-east  coast  of  China,  as  they  really 
are  from  that  of  Florida,  though  nearly  in  their  true  positions  with  regard  to 
Europe  and  to  Newfoundland.  The  eastern  part  of  Cuba  only  is  given,  as  that 
island  had  not  been  circumnavigated;  and  a  note  on  the  map  states  the  proba 
bility  that  Hispaniola  might  be  the  Cipango,  (Japan)  mentioned  by  Marco  Polo. 
The  Atlantic  coasts  of  the  new  continent,  south  of  the  islands,  are  delineated 
with  some  approach  to  correctness  from  Darien  to  Brazil ;  no  attempt  being  made 
to  supply  what  was  unknown  with  respect  to  the  interior  of  the  coasts  on  the 
other  side.  The  map  is  indeed  constructed  with  remarkable  honesty  throughout, 
exhibiting  the  utmost  care,  on  the  part  of  its  author,  to  insert  nothing  except 
upon  what  was  then  deemed  sufficient  authority. 

t  Martin  Waldseemuller,  or  Hylacomylus,  as  he  styled  himself,  in  a  small 
geographical  work,  entitled  "  Cosmographies  Instructio,  insuper  quatuor  Ameri- 
ci  Vesputii  navigationes,"  and  published  at  St.  Die  in  Lorraine  in  1507. 


30  TREATY  OF  PARTITION  OF  THE  OCEAN.     [1494. 

adopted  by  the  Spaniards ;  nor  was  it  generally  used  in  any  part 
of  the  world  until  the  following  century. 

These  West  Indies  were  discovered  by  the  Spaniards,  or  more 
properly  by  the  Castilians ;  for  Spain  was  the  general  appellation  of 
the  whole  peninsula  south  of  the  Pyrenees,  which  then  contained 
four  separate  and  independent  sovereignties,  Arragon,  Castile, 
Navarre  and  Portugal.  The  sovereigns  of  Castile  and  Arragon 
were  united  in  marriage,  but  their  dominions  remained  as  distinct 
as  before ;  and  though  the  commission  to  Columbus,  and  all  other 
acts  relative  to  the  new  countries,  were  issued  in  the  names  of 
the  united  sovereigns,  yet,  the  possession  of  those  countries  was 
secured  to  the  crown  of  Castile.  All  that  is  said  of  Spain  or 
Spaniards,  in  connection  with  the  early  history  of  America,  is 
therefore  to  be  understood  as  referring  exclusively  to  the  king 
dom  and  people  of  Castile. 

The  united  sovereigns  of  Castile  and  Arragon,  and  the  king 
of  Portugal,  were  then  the  principal  naval  powers  of  the  world : 
and  in  order  to  prevent  all  disputes  between  these  two  parties,  it 
was  agreed  by  a  treaty,  concluded  in  1494,  that  a  meridian  tra 
versing  the  Atlantic  in  its  whole  length,  and  passing  through  a 
point,  situated  three  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  Verd 
islands,  should  separate  the  seas  and  lands  in  which  they  might 
respectively  pursue  their  discoveries  and  conquests  in  future ;  all 
pagan  countries  east  of  that  line  being  left  at  the  disposition  of 
Portugal,  while  the  other  powers  should  enjoy  the  same  rights 
exclusively  on  the  west.  This  treaty,  founded  upon  grants  made 
to  each  of  the  parties  separately,  by  the  head  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  the  highest  authority  then  acknowledged  in  the 
Christian  world,  long  formed  the  basis  of  all  public  law,  with 
regard  to  the  new  countries:  it  was  soon  subjected  to  a  rude  test, 
by  the  determination  of  the  fact,  that  the  eastern  portion  of  those 
countries,  south  of  the  equator,  lay  east  of  the  meridian  of  parti 
tion  ;  but  the  Spanish  government  made  no  attempt  to  evade  the 
application  of  the  rule  established,  in  this  case  which  was  cer 
tainly  not  anticipated,  and  the  territory  in  question  called  Brazil, 
was  accordingly  occupied  and  possessed  by  Portugal. 

The  sovereigns  of  France  and  England  were  by  no  means  satis 
fied  with  this  exclusion  from  the  countries  beyond  the  Atlantic, 
and  in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  the  church,  they  encouraged 


1500.]EARLY    ENGLISH    AND    PORTUGUESE    DISCOVERIES.  31 

their  respective  subjects  to  make  voyages  for  discovery  and  settle 
ment,  in  the  prohibited  directions.  Of  the  expeditions  of  the 
French  before  1524,  little,  or  rather  nothing  is  known,  more  than 
sufficient,  to  render  it  probable,  that  such  voyages  were  made 
across  the  Atlantic.  The  first  expedition  from  England,  was  that 
of  John  Cabot  and  his  son  Sebastian,  in  1497  or  1498,  concerning 
which,  the  laborious  researches  of  ingenious  persons  have  only 
served  to  show,  that  those  navigators  saw  the  land  of  the  New 
World,  in  and  north  of  Newfoundland.  It  has  also  been  asserted, 
that  they,  or  one  of  them,  discovered  the  passage  now  called 
Hudson's  Strait,  and  explored  the  coasts  of  the  continent  south 
ward,  as  far  as  the  entrance  of  Chesapeake  bay,  but  whether  in 
this  voyage,  or  in  others  which  Sebastian  is  supposed,  on  most 
slender  grounds,  to  have  made  in  1499  and  1517,  still  remains 
undetermined.*  Nor  were  the  Portuguese  restrained  by  their 
treaty  with  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  from  engaging  in  the  search 
for  a  western  passage  to  India,  for  which  object  voyages  were 
made  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  century  by  the  Cortereals, 
from  Lisbon  to  the  coasts  previously  visited  by  the  Cabots;  and 
to  these  navigators  likewise  has  been  attributed,  the  discovery  of 
the  passage  leading  to  Hudson's  bay,  to  which  they  are  said  to 
have  given  the  name  of  the  Strait  of  Anian.  Certain  it  is,  that 
the  existence  of  a  wide  channel,  opening  to  the  Atlantic,  near  the 
60th  degree  of  latitude,  and  supposed  to  communicate  with  the 
Pacific  on  the  west,  was  known  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  long  before  the  voyage  of  Hudson. f 

Under  the  assurance  afforded  by  the  Papal  concession  and  the 
treaty  of  partition,  the  Spaniards  eagerly  prosecuted  the  explora 
tion  of  the  western  coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  and  soon  discovered 

many  other  islands  of  the  West  Indian  archipelago,  together  with 
t 

*  Those  who  are  curious  with  regard  to  these  voyages,  should  consult  the  Me 
moir  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  by  Richard  Biddle,  Esq.,  of  Pittsburgh,  published  at 
Philadelphia  in  1831,  in  which  all  that  has  been  said  on  the  subject  is  collected 
and  reviewed.  This  is  a  work  of  great  research,  and  still  greater  ingenuity;  but 
it  is  evidently  an  argument  for  the  establishment  of  the  claim  of  Sebastian  Cabot, 
and  no  one  should  read  it,  in  order  to  form  correct  opinions,  without  referring  to 
the  originals  of  all  the  authorities  quoted. 

f  See  the  map  of  the  New  World,  in  the  celebrated  geographical  work  called 
"  Theatrum  Orbis  Terrarum,"  by  Abraham  Ortelius,  published  at  AntAverp  in  1572, 
in  which  Hudson's  strait  and  bay  are  both  distinctly  represented.  The  discovery 
by  Hudson  took  place  in  1612. 


32  EARLY    SPANISH    DISCOVERIES.  [1500. 

a  long  line  of  coast,  extending  continuously  eastward  and  south 
ward,  from  Honduras  to  and  beyond  Brazil.  These  discoveries 
were  effected  for  the  most  part,  in  virtue  of  capitulations  or  con 
tracts  between  the  government  and  the  conductors  of  the  expedi 
tions,  expressing  the  amount  of  means,  such  as  vessels,  men, 
arms,  supplies,  and  expenses,  to  be  furnished  by  each  party,  and 
the  proportion  to  be  allowed  to  each  of  the  advantages  which 
might  result  from  the  enterprise.  Thus,  Columbus  made  his 
voyages  across  the  Atlantic  under  a  capitulation,  assuring  to  him 
and  his  heirs  and  successors  in  perpetuity,  the  titles  and  preroga 
tives  of  High  Admiral  and  Viceroy,  of  all  the  countries  which  he 
might  discover,  together  with  one- tenth  of  all  the  property  found  in 
them.  Ho\v  shamelessly  these  assurances  were  disregarded,  his 
tory  affords  abundant  proofs ;  while  it  likewise  presents  a  painful 
consolation  in  the  fact,  that  those  who  endeavored  to  profit  by 
the  injustice  and  indignities  heaped  upon  the  great  navigator, 
themselves  underwent  the  same  fate  in  almost  every  instance. 
In  some  cases,  however,  expeditions  were  made  by  governors  of 
colonies,  and  even  by  private  individuals,  having  no  authority 
whatsoever  from  the  sovereign,  and  under  the  hope  either  of  ob 
taining  some  immediate  compensation,  or  of  afterwards  effecting 
a  contract  with  the  crown,  for  the  possession  or  use  of  the  coun 
tries  wrhich  they  might  discover  and  occupy.  For  those  to  whom 
such  concessions  were  made,  the  title  of  Adelantado,  anciently 
borne  by  the  governors  of  frontier  provinces  in  Spain,  was  re 
vived,  in  token  of  their  peculiar  mission,  to  advance  (adelantar) 
and  extend  the  dominions  of  their  sovereign  as  far  as  possible; 
and  under  this  title,  which  was  first  held  by  Bartolome,  the 
brother  of  Christopher  Columbus,  many  of  the  most  renowned 
discoverers  and  conquerors  in  the  New  World,  prosecuted  their 
enterprises.  • 

The  Spaniards  were,  however,  for  a  long  time  after  the  dis 
covery  of  the  West  Indies,  by  no  means  content  with  the  results 
of  their  expeditions.  The  new  countries  were  rich  in  precious 
metals,  agreeable  in  climate,  fertile  in  soil,  and  admirably  adapted 
for  the  production  of  spices  and  other  articles,  which  had  been 
previously  procured  only  with  great  expense  from  southern  Asia: 
but  population  was  wanting  to  render  these  advantages  available. 
The  inhabitants  of  all  the  West  Indian  territories  discovered 
5 


1504.]         CRUELTY  OF  THE   SPANIARDS    TO  THE  INDIANS.  33 

during  the  twenty- five  years  following  the  first  voyage  of  Colum 
bus,  were  indolent  savages,  unaccustomed  to  labor  in  any  way; 
and  Europeans  would  not  undergo  the  perils  and  difficulties  of  a 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  in  order  to  work  under  a  tropical 
sun,  at  wages  no  higher  than  they  could  obtain  in  their  own 
countries.  The  earliest  settlements  were  made  in  the  large  and 
fertile  island,  called  Hayti  by  the  natives,  and  La  Espaiiola,  or 
Hispaniola — the  Spanish  Island — by  its  European  discoverers, 
now  commonly  known  as  St.  Domingo,  from  the  name  of  the 
principal  city,  which  was,  for  several  years  after  its  foundation 
by  Columbus,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  trans-atlantic  do 
minions  of  Spain.  In  order  to  derive  revenue  from  this  island, 
its  aborigines  were  at  first  subjected  to  a  poll-tax,  payable  in 
gold  or  silver,  which  served  only  to  banish  them  all  to  the  inac 
cessible  mountains  and  forests  of  the  interior ;  and  permission 
was  then  granted  to  individuals  to  open  mines  and  form  planta 
tions  of  sugar  and  indigo,  on  which  the  natives  might  be  com 
pelled  to  work,  though  under  restrictions  imposed  by  the  hu 
manity  of  Queen  Isabella  for  their  protection)  civilization,  and 
conversion  to  Christianity.* 

*  The  principal  sources  of  information  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter,  are 
the  old  Spanish  historians  and  chronicles,  viz  :  "  Decades  de  rebus  Oceanicis,  et 
Novo  Orbe,"  Decades  of  the  affairs  of  the  New  World — containing  historical 
accounts  and  descriptions,  written  in  Latin,  in  the  form  of  epistles,  by  Pietro 
Martire,  better  known  as  Peter  Martyr,  an  Italian  priest,  residing  in  Spain  at 
the  time  of  the  first  discoveries  :  "  Historia  General  de  Indias" — General  His 
tory  of  the  New  World — the  earliest  work  of  that  kind,  by  Gonzalo  de  Oviedo, 
first  published  in  1535  :  "  Historia  General  de  Indias,"  another  General  History 
of  the  New  World,  by  Francisco  Gomara,  including  all  the  events  prior  to 
1551 :  "  Historia  General  de  los  Hechos,  de  los  Castellanos,  en  las  Islas  y 
Tierra  Firme  del  Mar  Oceano,"— General  History  of  the  Deeds  of  the  Castil- 
ians  in  the  Islands  and  Mainland  of  the  Ocean — by  Simon  Herrera,  the  great 
repository  of  facts  with  regard  to  America  prior  to  1566  :  and  lastly,  the  inval 
uable  "  Coleccion  de  Viajes  y  Descubrimientos  de  los  Espaiioles,"  or  Collection 
of  Documents  relative  to  the  Voyages  and  Discoveries  of  the  Spaniards,  since 
the  latter  years  of  the  fifteenth  century,  by  Don  Martin  Fernandez  de  Navar- 
rete,  which  have  thrown  so  much  light  on  the  early  history  of  the  New  World. 
These  works  are  all  so  well  known  that  any  observations  on  them  here  would 
be  superfluous.  They  have  been  carefully  searched  for  facts  relating  to  the 
conquest  of  Mexico,  and  to  the  other  brilliant  achievements  of  the  Spaniards  in 
the  New  World  ;  but  they  have  been  sadly  neglected  by  those  engaged  in  tracing 
the  discoveries  of  that  nation  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  which 
have  been  most  inaccurately  described  by  our  historians,  as  will  be  sufficiently 
proved  in  the  following  pages. 

•  5 


34        DEATH  OF  QUEEN  ISABELLA  OF  CASTILE.     [  J  508. 

Queen  Isabella  died  in  1504  and  the  Spaniards,  being  thus  en 
tirely  freed  from  the  restrictions  which  she  endeavored  to  enforce 
in  behalf  of  the  Indians  in  Hispaniola,  increased  the  labors  of  those 
people  to  such  an  extent  that  their  numbers  rapidly  diminished, 
from  fatigue,  disease,  and  desertion  ;  so  that  it  became  neces 
sary  to  make  expeditions  to  the  other  islands,  in  search  of  per 
sons  to  supply  their  places,  and  afterwards  to  import  negroes  for 
that  purpose  from  Africa.  Some  large  fortunes  were  accumu 
lated  by  the  Spaniards  in  this  way  ;  by  far  the  larger  proportion 
of  those  who  engaged  in  those  plantations,  however,  lost  their 
capital,  and  the  most  courageous  and  enterprising  among  them 
were  driven  to  other  pursuits,  more  exciting,  though  in  general 
not  more  profitable,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown.  The  disap 
pointed  planters  became  leaders  of  expeditions  for  discovery  and 
conquest,  in  the  course  of  which  large  empires  were  found  and 
subjugated,  whose  inhabitants  were  exterminated  or  reduced  to 
slavery,  under  the  pretext  of  extending  a  religion  the  fundamen 
tal  principle  of  which  was  peace  to  all  mankind.1* 

On  the  death  of  Queen  Isabella,  her  dominions,  including  all  the 
new  countries  discovered  or  claimed  by  the  Spaniards  on  the  west 
ern  side  of  the  Atlantic,  descended  to  her  eldest  daughter  Juana, 
the  wife  of  Philip  of  Austria,  sovereign  of  the  Netherlands,  who 
was  immediately  proclaimed  King  of  Castile.  He,  however, 
died  soon  afterwards;  and  his  widow  being  an  incurable  ma 
niac,  the  government  of  her  dominions  was  administered  by 
her  father,  King  Ferdinand  of  Arragon,  in  her  name,  jointly  with 
that  of  her  infant  son  Charles,  who  was  then  Prince  of  the  Nether-- 

*  The  proclamations  which  the  leaders  of  these  expeditions  were  enjoined  to 
address  to  the  natives  of  the  countries  invaded  by  them,  "  in  the  best  manner 
possible,1'  is  a  most  curious  document  in  illustration  of  the  ideas  of  that  age. 
The  Indians  are  thereby  informed  that  God  created  a  man  and  a  woman,  from 
whom  all  the  people  of  the  earth  are  descended  ;  and  that  in  process  of  lime  he 
appointed  one  man,  St.  Peter,  to  reign  over  all,  after  whose  death  others  suc 
ceeded,  maintaining  the  same  authority  to  the  present  day  ;  and  that  one  of  those 
successors  of  St.  Peter,  called  Popes,  reigning  at  Rome,  had  given  the  posses 
sion  of  all  the  New  World  and  all  its  people  to  the  King  of  Spain,  to  whom  the 
natives  of  the  country  were  required  immediately  to  submit,  as  dutiful  subjects, 
under  penalty  of  being  enslaved,  or  put  to  death  if  obstinately  refusing.  It  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  neither  Christ  nor  the  Virgin,  nor  any  saint  except  St. 
Peter,  is  mentioned  in  the  whole  proclamation,  which  is  drawn  up  with  great 
care,  so  as  to  leave  the  utmost  latitude  to  those  charged  with  the  execution  of 
its  provisions. 


1512.]      GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    SPANISH    WEST    INDIES.  35 

lands,  heir  to  the  crown  of  Castile,  and  heir-apparent  to  that  of 
Arragon.  Ferdinand,  one  of  the  most  artful,  selfish,  and  faithless 
of  men,  caring  nothing  for  his  daughter,  and  hating  her  son,  as 
he  had  hated  her  husband,  conducted  the  affairs  of  her  kingdom, 
in  all  respects,  with  a  view  to  the  advancement  of  his  own  in 
terests.  To  the  trans-atlantic  possessions,  he  indeed  devoted 
much  attention,  so  far  at  least  as  concerned  the  increase  of  the 
revenues  derivable  from  them,  one-half  of  which  were  secured  to 
him  by  the  will  of  Isabella;  and  with  this  object,  every  species 
of  cruelty  and  oppression  towards  the  natives  was  allowed  and 
encouraged,  in  defiance  of  the  express  provisions  of  that  will,  so 
long  as  it  brought  gold  into  the  royal  coffers.  The  immediate 
direction  of  the  affairs  of  those  countries  was  left  almost  entirely 
at  the  discretion  of  the  president  of  the  council  of  the  Indies,  the 
famous  Cardinal  Fonseca,  Bishop  of  Burgos,  the  old  and  impla 
cable  enemy  of  Columbus,  a  minister  in  every  way  worthy  of 
such  a  master,  heartless,  unprincipled  and  venal,  who  bestowed 
all  offices  and  employments  on  his  own  creatures  and  dependants, 
and  protected  them  in  the  commission  of  all  acts  of  violence  and 
extortion,  whilst  they  in  return  gratified  his  avarice  or  vindictive- 
ness.  The  office  of  admiral  and  viceroy  of  the  Indies  was  indeed 
conceded,  in  1508,  to  Diego  Colon,*  the  eldest  son  of  Columbus, 
in  virtue  of  a  judicial  decision  on  a  suit  brought  by  him  against  the 
government,  in  the  course  of  which  every  species  of  chicanery 
had  been  employed  by  the  king  and  the  cardinal  to  rob  the  great 
navigator  of  the  merit,  as  well  as  the  reward  of  his  discoveries, 
but  this  act  of  tardy  justice  was  accompanied  by  so  many  restric 
tions  on  the  powers,  and  so  many  charges  on  the  revenues  of  the 
admiral,  that  his  authority  was  rendered  little  more  than  nominal ; 
and  the  whole  period  of  his  residence  in  the  West  Indies  was 
passed  in  struggles  with  the  innumerable  auditors,  judges, 
comptrollers,  treasurers,  and  other  functionaries,  by  whom  he 
was  surrounded,  all  holding  their  appointments  from  the  crown, 
and  responsible  to  it  alone,  or  rather  to  the  Bishop  of  Burgos,  as 
its  representative. 

*  The  family  name  of  the  discoverer  of  the  New  World  was  Colombo  or  Co- 
lomo,  which  he  altered  to  Colon,  on  establishing  himself  in  Spain,  as  a  precau 
tion  no  doubt,  against  the  prejudices  which  a  foreign  appellation  might  raise 
against  him. 


36          JUAN  PONCE  DE   LEON,  GOVERNOR  OF  PORTO  RICO.      [1511. 

About  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  viceroy  Colon  in  Hispa- 
niola,  expeditions  were  begun  from  that  island  to  the  surround 
ing  countries,  in  the  course  of  which  many  important  discoveries 
and  conquests  were  soon  effected.  Thus  Alonzo  de  Ojeda  and 
his  followers,  arhong  whom  wTere  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  the 
discoverer  of  the  Pacific,  and  Francisco  Pizarro  the  conqueror 
of  Peru,  betook  themselves  to  the  mainland  immediately  south, 
where  they  founded  Darien  and  other  settlements  ;  Juan  de  Es- 
quivel  and  Francisco  de  Garay,  subdued  the  island  of  San 
tiago  or  Jamaica  ;  Diego  de  Velasquez,  accompanied  by  his 
secretary  Hernando  Cortes  and  his  lieutenant  Parifilo  de  Nar- 
vaez,  established  himself  in  Cuba,  Isabella,  Fernandina,  or 
Juana,  as  it  was  successively  called  ;  and  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon, 
with  a  band  of  desperate  ruffians  aided  by  a  pack  of  blood 
hounds,  overran  the  island  of  San  Juan  or  Porto  Rico,  of  which 
they  nearly  exterminated  the  aborigines.  The  viceroy,  on  his 
arrival,  being  shocked  by  the  accounts  which  he  received  of  the 
conduct  of  these  chiefs,  endeavored  to  restrain  them  ;  and  with 
this  object,  he  commissioned  Juan  Ceron  to  supersede  Ponce  de 
Leon  in  the  government  of  Porto  Rico ;  but  the  latter,  trusting 
to  his  credit  with  the  cardinal  minister,  seized  Ceron  and  sent 
him  as  prisoner  to  Spain.  The  daring  captain  had,  however, 
calculated  too  far  upon  his  influence  at  court  :  for  the  King  and 
the  Bishop,  considering  it  politic  to  sustain  the  authority  of  the 
viceroy  on  this  occasion,  confirmed  the  appointment  of  Ceron, 
who  returned  to  Porto  Rico  as  governor  in  1511,  and  the  con 
queror  of  the  island  found  himself  reduced  at  once  to  a  private 
station,  in  which  he  remained  for  some  time,  though  not  un 
employed,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown. 

At  that  time,  notwithstanding  the  activity  of  the  Spaniards, 
very  little  was  known  of  the  continent  adjacent  to  the  West 
India  islands.  Cuba,  which  was  supposed  by  Columbus  to  be 
the  easternmost  portion  of  Asia,  had  been  but ~  recently  circum 
navigated  ;  the  coast  of  the  mainland  on  the  south  had  been 
imperfectly  traced  from  Honduras  eastward  to  Darien  ;  and  the 
Lucayos,  or  Bahama  islands,  north  of  Cuba,  had  also  been 
visited  by  the  Spaniards.  Of  all  that  lay  between  Honduras  on 
the  south,  and  the  southern  limit  of  the  discoveries  of  the  Cabots 
and  the  Cortereals  on  the  north — whether  Newfoundland  or 


1512.] 


EARLY    MAP    OF    THE    WEST    INDIES. 


37 


Chesapeake  Bay — nothing  had  been  learned  ;  unless  possibly 
some  points  on  the  peninsula  of  Florida  might  have  been  seen  by 
Europeans,  as  seems  to  be  indicated,  though  obscurely,  in  a  map 
of  the  West  Indies  published  in  Ptolomey's  Geography  at  Stras- 
burg  in  1513,  of  a  part  of  which  the  following  is  an  exact  copy.* 


Under  these  circumstances,  abundant  fields  for  adventure  were 
offered  to  the  Spaniards  in  that  part  of  the  New  World  ;  and 
no  man  was  more  capable  of  conducting  such  enterprises  than 
Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  the  deposed  governor  of  Porto  Rico. 
During  his  three  years  of  misrule  in  that  island,  he  had  accu 
mulated  an  immense  fortune  by  the  plunder  of  the  wretched1 

*  This  map  may  have  been  interleaved  after  1513 ;  as  was  the  case,  sometimes, 
with  editions  of  Ptolomey. 


PONCE    DE    LEON    SAILS    IN    SEARCH    OF    BIMINI.       [1512. 

natives ;  and  being  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  determined  to  en 
gage  in  some  new  enterprise,  by  which  he  might  increase  his 
wealth  and  his  reputation.  In  Porto  Rico,  as  in  every  other  part 
of  the  New  World,  the  Spaniards  had  received  from  the  Indians 
confused  accounts  of  rich  and  powerful  nations,  occupying  de 
lightful  countries,  in  the  direction  of  the  setting  sun ;  and  Porice 
de  Leon  becoming  convinced,  from  the  answers  made  to  his  en 
quiries,  that  such  a  nation  existed  in  a  region  called  Bimini, 
said  to  be  situated  north-west  of  Porto  Rico,  beyond  the  Ba 
hama  islands,  resolved  to  go  in  search  of  it.  To  this  adventure 
he  is  said  to  have  been  moreover  stimulated,  by  the  report  that 
Bimini  contained  a  stream  or  fountain,  possessing  the  desirable 
property  of  restoring  those  who  bathed  in  it  or  drank  its  waters, 
to  all  the  vigor  of  youth,  whatsoever  may  have  been  their  previous 
infirmity  or  decrepitude;  and  if  so,  he  merely  yielded  faith  to  that 
which  the  best  and  wisest  men  of  his  day  would  have  hesitated 
to  pronounce  impossible. 

Three  vessels  were  accordingly  equipped  by  Ponce  de  Leon, 
in  the  harbor  of  San  German,  now  Guadianilla,  on  the  west  coast 
of  Porto  Rico,  from  which  he  sailed  on  the  3d  of  March,  1512, 
in  search  of  Bimini.  Taking  his  course  north-westward,  he  soon 
found  himself  among  the  islands  of  the  Lucayos  group,  north  of 
Hispaniola  and  Cuba,  of  which  he  visited  several,  including 
Guanahani,  now  Cat  Island,  supposed  to  be  the  first  land  seen  by 
Columbus  in  the  New  World,  and  named  by  him  San  Salvador. 
There  one  of  the  vessels  was  repaired ;  and  the  voyage  being  re 
sumed  in  the  same  direction,  the  Spaniards,  on  Easter  Sunday, 
the  27th  of  April,  saw  land  stretching  from  north  to  south  across 
their  course.  The  weather  being  unfavorable  for  approaching 
the  shore,  they  ran  along  it  northward  until  the  2d  of  May,  when 
they  anchored  in  latitude  of  30  degrees  8  minutes;  and  Ponce  de 
Leon  landing  on  the  same  day,  took  formal  possession  of  the 
territory,  with  religious  ceremonies,  in  behalf  of  the  sovereigns 
of  Castile,  bestowing  upon  it  the  name  of  Florida,  from  its  ver 
dant  and  flowery  appearance,  as  well  as  in  commemoration  of 
the  day  of  its  discovery,  called  Pascha  Florida, — the  Feast  of 
Flowers, — in  the  Roman  Catholic  Calendar. 

The  accounts  of  all  voyages  made  at  that  time,  are  so  vague  and 
inexact,  especially  as  regards  geographical  positions,  that  it  is 


1512.]       DISCOVERY    OF    FLORIDA    BY    PONCE    DE    LEON.  39 

always  difficult,  and  generally  impossible,  to  identify  places  men 
tioned  in  them.  No  means  of  ascertaining  longitude  were  then 
known;  and  the  instruments  as  well  as  the  methods  for  deter 
mining  latitudes  were  so  imperfect,  that  errors  of  two  and  three 
degrees  were  often  committed  by  the  most  skilful  navigators.  If 
the  latitude  of  the  spot  at  which  Ponce  de  Leon  landed  in  Florida, 
be  correctly  stated,  it  must  have  been  midway  between  the  pre 
sent  city  of  St.  Augustine,  and  the  mouth  of  the  large  river  of 
St.  John. 

Resuming  their  voyage,  the  Spaniards  endeavored  to  pro 
ceed  along  the  coast  towards  the  north,  but  were  prevented  by 
the  current,  which  sets  southward  in  the  vicinity  of  the  land,  and 
which  carried  them  to  the  mouth  of  a  river,  named  by  them,  Rio 
de  la  Cruz,  most  probably  Mosquito  Inlet,  near  the  29th  degree 
of  latitude.  There  they  again  anchored,  and  sent  parties  ashore 
in  search  of  fresh  water,  who  were  soon  surrounded  and  at 
tacked  by  bands  of  daring  savages :  some  of  these  people,  who 
were  made  prisoners  and  carried  on  board  of  the  vessels,  on  being 
questioned  as  to  their  country,  seemed  to  say  that  it  was  an  island 
called  Cautio ;  but  nothing  could  be  extracted  from  them  respect 
ing  Bimini,  or  any  other  rich  or  civilized  region.  Continuing 
the  voyage  towards  the  south,  Ponce  de  Leon,  on  the  8th  of 
May,  reached  a  projecting  point  of  land  which  was  named  Cape 
Corrientes,  on  account  of  the  violence  of  the  current  sweeping 
around  it  to  the  north ;  and  was  certainly  the  same  now  known 
as  Cape  Canaveral,  in  latitude  of  28  degrees  a-nd  18  minutes. 
Farther  south,  he  entered  a  large  bay,  probably  Sandwich  gulf, 
where  he  was  again  beset  by  savages  in  canoes,  who  endea 
vored  to  carry  off  the  anchors  of  his  vessels ;  and  beyond  this 
place,  he  observed  a  multitude  of  islands,  stretching  in  a  line  or 
chain  towards  the  west,  which  were  called  Los  Martires — the 
Martyrs — from  their  resemblance,  when  seen  at  a  distance,  to 
persons  undergoing  various  modes  of  torture.  This  chain  was 
traced  to  its  termination;  and  the  Spaniards  thence  sailing  north 
eastward,  reached  the  western  side  of  Florida,  which  they  coasted 
in  that  direction,  probably  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the  peninsula 
with  the  mainland.  Returning  to  the  south,  they  observed  an 
other  small  group  of  islands  west  of  the  Martyrs,  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  Las  Tortugas,  in  grateful  remembrance  of  the 


40  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    GULF    STREAM.  [1512. 

plentiful  supply  of  turtles  obtained  there;  and  Ponce  de  Leon 
having  in  the  meantime  received  some  vague  accounts  of  a  rich 
country,  governed  by  a  powerful  sovereign  called  Calos,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  Bimini,  again  took  his  departure,  full  of 
hope  of  attaining  the  great  object  of  his  voyage. 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  course  of  the  Spanish  vessels 
from  the  time  of  their  leaving  the  Tortugas  islands,  on  the  21st 
of  June,  until  their  arrival,  on  the  25th  of  the  following  month, 
at  the  Great  Bahama  island;  it  is  not  probable  that  they  again 
saw  the  mainland  of  Florida,  though  they  appear  to  have  once 
landed  on  the  north-west  side  of  Cuba.  At  the  Great  Bahama, 
they  found  a  Spanish  vessel  from  Hispaniola,  commanded  by 
Diego  de  Miruelo,  in  company  with  which,  they  again  set  out  in 
search  of  Bimini :  they,  however,  suffered  severely  from  storms, 
in  one  of  which,  Miruelo's  vessel  was  lost,  though  her  captain 
and  crew  were  saved ;  and  their  provisions  being  nearly  exhausted, 
Ponce  de  Leon  resolved  to  return,  with  one  of  his  ships,  to 
Porto  Rico,  leaving  the  others  under  Juan  Perez  de  Ortubia,  to 
prosecute  the  discovery.  They  accordingly  separated  on  the 
17th  of  September,  and  after  a  boisterous  and  difficult  passage, 
Ponce  de  Leon  entered  the  harbor  of  San  Juan,  in  Porto  Rico, 
on  the  18th  of  October.  The  other  vessels,  under  Ortubia,  ar 
rived  soon  after,  bringing  no  accounts  of  Bimini ;  but  Antonio  de 
Alaminos,  the  pilot  of  one  of  them,  had  observed  the  great  cur 
rent  now  called  the  Gulf  Stream,  which  rushes  northward  between 
Florida  and  the  Lucayos  islands,  a  discovery  of  itself  sufficient  to 
give  importance  to  the  expedition. 

Such  were  the  particulars  of  the  first  visit  made  by  Europeans 
to  the  portion  of  the  New  World,  now  occupied  by  the  United 
States,  of  which  authentic  accounts  have  been  preserved.  Florida 
was  supposed  to  be  an  island,  and  was  thus  represented  on  maps 
for  some  time  afterwards ;  and  agreeably  to  the  ideas  of  geography 
then  prevailing,  it  was  considered  as  possibly  identical  with  the 
Cipango,  (Japan)  described  by  Marco  Polo,  as  lying  eastward 
of  Cathay  or  China.  So  well  convinced  had  Ponce  de  Leon 
become  of  the  existence  of  some  rich  country  in  that  direction, 
that  he  immediately  proceeded  to  Spain,  where  he  obtained  a 
commission  as  Adelantado  of  Florida  and  Bimini,  for  the  exclu 
sive  conquest  and  possession  under  the  crown,  of  any  countries 


1513.]  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN.  41 

north-west  of  Cuba  and  Hispaniola.  He  was,  however,  at  the 
same  time,  charged  with  the  command  of  a  squadron,  destined 
for  the  chastisement  of  the  natives  of  the  small  islands  east  of 
Porto  Rico,  on  account  of  their  barbarous  treatment  of  the  crews 
of  several  Spanish  vessels  thrown  upon  their  coasts ;  and  with  this 
view,  he  landed  in  Guadalupe  or  Guacana,  as  it  was  then  called, 
in  the  spring  of  1515,  with  a  large  body  of  men,  and  some  wo 
men.  But  the  Spaniards  were 'there  surprised  by  the  savages, 
who  killed  nearly  all  the  men,  and  carried  off  the  women ;  so  that 
Ponce  de  Leon  was  obliged  to  retreat  with  the  remainder  to  his 
vessels,  and  to  sail  for  Porto  Rico,  where  he  passed  the  following 
five  years  as  governor,  without  making  any  attempt  to  prosecute 
his  examinations  in  the  west. 

A  grand  discovery  had  been  effected  in  the  interval  between  these 
two  voyages,  which  led  directly  and  indirectly,  to  others  more  im 
portant.  In  1513,  the  ocean  now  called  the  Pacific,  was  first 
reached  at  the  Bay  of  Panama,  by  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  the 
commandant  of  the  Spanish  settlement  on  the  north  side  of  the 
isthmus  at  Darien.  This  sea  was  of  course  supposed  to  be  the 
Southern  or  Indian  ocean,  bathing  the  southern  shores  of  Asia; 
and  the  place  at  which  it  was  thus  first  seen,  was  believed  to  be 
situated  not  very  far  south-east  of  China,  and  probably  near  the 
great  island  of  Java,  described  by  Marco  Polo  as  lying  in  that 
direction:  in  confirmation  of  which  idea,  the  Indians,  on  the  coast 
of  Panama,  were  unanimous  in  their  accounts,  of  rich  and  popu 
lous  kingdoms  in  their  vicinity,  towards  the  south  and  the 
west.  Balboa  immediately  communicated  the  news  to  his  sov 
ereign,  praying  at  the  same  time,  for  authority  and  means  to 
prosecute  his  discoveries:  but  ere  his  despatches  arrived  in 
Spain,  Pedrarias  Davila,  a  nobleman  of  high  rank  and  distin 
guished  reputation  for  valor  and  loyalty,  had  been  appointed 
governor  and  captain  general  of  Golden  Castile — as  the  Darien 
countries  were  named— and  was  on  his  way  with  a  large  arma 
ment  to  the  West  Indies,  carrying  instructions  to  seize  Balboa, 
and  bring  him  to  trial,  for  certain  illegal  acts  imputed  to  "him. 
Davila  arrived  in  Darien  in  1514,  and  having  examined  Balboa, 
the  latter  was  acquitted  upon  his  reports,  and  was  invested  by 
the  king  with  the  title  and  powers  of  Adelantado  of  the  South 
Sea.  Ere  this  appointment  had  been  made  however,  the  two 
6 


42  DEATH    OF    KING    FERDINAND.  [1516. 

commanders  in  the  Isthmus  were  at  war  with  each  other.  A  re 
conciliation  was  effected,  and  a  maniage  contracted  between 
Balboa  and  the  daughter  of  Davila;  but  the  mutual  hatred  of  the 
parties  soon  broke  forth  again,  and  the  discoverer  of  the  Pacific, 
having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  his  ruthless  father-in-law,  was 
tried,  condemned,  and  executed  in  1516,  just  as  he  was  prepar 
ing  an  expedition  for  the  conquest  of  the  rich  countries  in  the 
south,  afterwards  subdued  by  Francisco  Pizarro. 

In  the  preceding  year,  1515,  the  Admiral  Diego  Colon  was 
obliged  to  proceed  to  Spain  in  consequence  of  a  law  suit  brought 
against  him  by  the  government,  for  which  a  mass  of  witnesses 
had  been  summoned,  to  prove  that  his  father  had,  in  reality,  dis 
covered  no  part  of  the  new  world.  About  the  time  of  his  arrival, 
in  January,  1516,  king  Ferdinand  of  Arragon  died,  leaving  no 
children  by  his  second  queen,  in  consequence  of  which  his  throne 
descended  to  his  daughter,  the  insane  Juana.  Her  son  Charles, 
then  sixteen  years  of  age,  being  declared  to  have  attained  his 
majority,  assumed  the  government  in  his  own  name  and  in  that 
of  his  mother,  over  all  the  wide  and  rich  dominions  of  Castile 
and  Arragon,  including  the  greater  part  of  Spain  and  Italy,  in 
addition  to  his  paternal  possessions  in  the  Netherlands.  His 
accession  to  the  throne,  forms  an  important  epoch  in  the 
history  of  America  and  in  that  of  Europe ;  for,  as  in  the  latter 
continent, the  religious  reformation  then  began,  against  the  pro 
gress  of  which  he  resolutely  exerted  all  his  power,  so  at  the  same 
time  were  those  discoveries  effected  in  the  New  World,  which 
contributed  to  fix  its  destinies  by  establishing  the  supremacy  of 
Spain  over  a  great  portion  of  its  territory. 


CHAPTER    II. 


1516    TO    1527. 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  COASTS  OF  THE  MEXICAN  GULF  AND  THE 
MOUTH  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI — CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO  BY 
THE  SPANIARDS — FIRST  ATTEMPTS  OF  EUROPEANS  TO  OC 
CUPY  THE  ATLANTIC  COASTS  OF  FLORIDA. 

AT  the  moment  of  the  death  of  Ferdinand  of  Arragon,  his  suc 
cessor  Charles  was  in  Flanders,  the  country  of  his  birth  and 
education ;  and  Cardinal  Ximenes,  who  governed  Castile  as 
Regent,  seized  the  occasion  of  the  absence  of  the  Admiral  Colon 
from  the  West  Indies,  to  entrust  the  direction  of  those  colonies 
to  three  monks  of  the  order  of  St.  Jerome,  who  immediately 
proceeded  to  Santo  Domingo,  and  entered  upon  their  new  duties. 
The  reverend  governors  were,  however,  not  more  successful  than 
the  viceroy  had  been,  in  enforcing  obedience  to  their  authority, 
especially  in  the  distant  colonies,  the  chiefs  of  which  reigned  su 
preme,  each  in  his  own  territory,  so  long  as  he  could  secure  the 
favor  of  the  cardinal  minister  Fonseca  in  Spain.  The  most  re 
fractory,  as  well  as  most  energetic  of  those  chiefs,  was  Diego 
de  Velazquez,  who  had  obtained  the  appointment  of  governor  of 
Cuba,  and  was  rapidly  acquiring  wealth  by  the  sale  of  lands  and 
Indians,  as  well  as  by  the  cultivation  of  his  own  extensive  es 
tates  in  that  island.  Under  his  direction,  the  settlements  of  the 
Spaniards  already  extended  along  both  coasts  of  Cuba,  towards 
its  western  extremity ;  and  his  little  capital,  Santiago,  was  be 
coming  the  principal  resort  of  adventurers  from  other  parts  of  the 
West  Indies,  and  from  Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  encourage 
ment  offered  in  the  way  of  grants  and  employments  to  those  who 
could  pay  for  them  or  earn  them  by  services  to  the  governor. 


44  EXPEDITION    OF    HERNANDES    DE    CORDOVA.          [1516. 

Velazquez  was  indeed,  according  to  the  Spanish  system,  likewise 
environed  by  officers,  intended  as  checks  and  spies  upon  his  pro 
ceedings:  but  he  knew  how  to  manage  them;  and  they  were 
probably  not  of  a  very  high  order,  at  least  with  regard  to  qualifi 
cations,  judging  from  the  fact  that  Amador  de  Lariz,  the  Contador, 
or  comptroller  of  the  royal  revenues  of  the  island,  could  not  read. 
Among  the  adventurers  thus  brought  to  Santiago  in  1516,  were 
a  number  of  officers  and  soldiers  from  Darien,  who  being  discon 
tented  with  the  state  of  things  in  that  country  after  the  execution 
of  Balboa,  obtained  their  discharge  from  Davila,  and  came  to 
Cuba  to  seek  their  fortunes.  Of  these  officers,  one  deserves  par 
ticular  mention,  namely,  Bernal  Dias  del  Castillo,  then  a  young 
captain,  who  fifty  years  later,  when  a  grave  and  worshipful  Regi- 
dor  of  the  city  of  Guatemala,  indited  a  narrative  of  the  stirring 
events  in  which  he  was  engaged  after  his  arrival  in  Cuba,  more 
interesting  than  any  other  in  any  language  without  the  limits  of 
fiction.*  The  adventurers,  as  usual,  immediately  on  arriving  in 
Cuba,  solicited  grants  of  lands  and  Indians;  but  being  unable  to 
make  the  necessary  presents  to  the  governor  and  his  attendants, 
their  petition  remained  unnoticed,  and  their  funds  thus  rapidly 
diminishing,  they  were  glad  to  accept  the  proposition  of  a  certain 
Francisco  Hernandes  de  Cordova,  to  join  him  in  an  expedition 
towards  the  west,  in  search  of  some  country  which  might  offer 
inducements  for  trade,  plunder,  or  settlement. 

*  "  Historia  Verdadera  de  la  Conquista  de  la  Nueva  Espana,"  a  True  history  of 
the  conquest  of  New  Spain.  It  was  first  printed  at  Madrid  in  1632,  and  has  been 
translated  into  English  and  all  the  other  languages  of  western  Europe.  The  best 
of  these  versions  is,  however,  but  a  pale  and  lifeless  reflection  of  the  original, 
which  stands  in  history  as  unique  and  inimitable  as  Don  Quixote  in  romance. 
The  other  authorities  for  the  circumstances  related  in  this  chapter  in  addition  to 
those  already  named  are — "  Cronica  de  la  Nueva  Espana,"  a  chronicle  of  the  con 
quest  of  Mexico,  by  Francisco  Lopez  de  Goniara — the  letters  of  Cortes  to 
Charles  V,  printed  at  different  times  and  places,  and  various  accounts  in  the  col 
lections  of  Ramusio,  Hakluyt  Purchas,  Navarrete  and  Ternaux  Compans. 

The  author  of  this  history  is  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Solis,  Robertson, 
and  Prescott,  all  of  which,  and  especially  the  beautiful  work  of  Prescott,  have 
been  carefully  examined  and  compared  by  him,  while  engaged  in  the  sketch  of 
the  conquest  of  Mexico,  inserted  in  the  present  chapter.  Here  however,  as  else 
where,  he  has  relied  exclusively,  on  the  original  evidence,  in  the  original  lan 
guage,  wheresoever  it  was  attainable ;  and  his  statements  of  facts,  as  well  as  his 
conclusions,  will  be  found  in  some  cases,  to  differ  materially  from  those  of  the 
eminent  historians  above  named. 


1517.]  DISCOVERY    OF    YUCATAN.  45 

Three  vessels  were  accordingly  equipped  for  the  contemplated 
expedition,  and  Antonio  Alarainos  who  had  accompanied  Ponce 
de  Leon  to  Florida,  was  engaged  as  chief  pilot.  Velazquez  took 
shares  in  the  enterprise,  towards  which  he  contributed  one  vessel : 
he  was  also  desirous  that  Cordova  should  promise  to  bring  him 
in  return  some  slaves  for  his  plantations ;  but  Bernal  Bias  and 
other  cavaliers  having  refused  to  embark  on  those  conditions,  the 
idea  was  abandoned. 

All  being  prepared,  these  vessels  took  their  departure  on  the 
8th  of  February,  1517,  from  a  harbor  on  the  north-west  side  of 
Cuba,  which  had  been  selected  as  the  place  of  rendezvous ;  and 
sailing  around  the  western  extremity  of  the  island,  they  continued 
their  voyage  towards  the  west  for  twenty  days,  when  land  was 
discovered.  On  approaching  it  they  were  agreeably  surprised 
by  the  appearance  of  a  large  city;  and  they  were  soon  surrounded 
by  boats  filled  with  people,  who  seemed  to  be  much  more  intelli 
gent  and  civilized  than  any  other  inhabitants  of  the  New  World 
as  yet  seen  by  Europeans.  From  these  people  they  procured 
small  trinkets  of  gold,  curiously  wrought,  in  return  for  their  own 
articles ;  and  agreeably  to  an  invitation  from  one  who  appeared 
to  be  a  person  in  authority,  a  few  of  the  Spaniards  landed,  and 
endeavored  to  reach  the  city.  They  passed  on  their  way  large 
temples  and  other  buildings  of  stone,  containing  idols  of  the  same 
material,  in  which  pieces  of  gold  were  also  found,  and  of  course 
seized  by  the  Spaniards ;  but  ere  they  had  proceeded  far,  they 
were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  numerous  body  of  men,  armed  with 
spears,  bows  and  arrows,  and  were  forced  to  return  to  their  vessels. 

The  country  thus  discovered,  was  believed  by  the  Spaniards 
to  be  called  Yucatan,  from  some  misunderstanding  of  the  answers 
given  by  the  natives  to  their  questions ;  and  the  place  at  which 
they  first  landed  received  the  name  of  Cape  Catoche,  from  the 
frequent  use  of  the  expression  Cotoch,  by  those  people.  Not 
considering  it  prudent  to  remain  there  any  longer,  the  adventurers 
sailed  along  the  coast  towards  the  west,  and  then  finding  it  turn 
to  the  south,  they  traced  it  in  that  direction  to  a  great  distance, 
observing  many  cities,  temples,  and  other  signs  of  civilization  on 
their  way.  Near  two  of  the  largest  of  these  cities,  (of  which  they 
afterwards  learned  the  names  to  be  Quimpechi,  or  Campeachy, 
and  Potonchon,)  they  landed,  as  well  as  at  other  places,  in  order 


46  DISCOVERY    OF    YUCATAN.  [1517 

to  procure  water:  but  they  were  every  where  met  by  overwhelm 
ing  bodies  of  armed  natives,  who  drove  them  back  to  their  ves 
sels,  and  in  one  of  these  engagements  nearly  a  quarter  of  their 
number  were  killed,  while  many  others  were  wounded. 

After  leaving  Potonchon  the  Spaniards  reached  the  entrance 
of  a  large  bay,  which  the  pilot,  Alaminos,  on  examination,  be 
lieved  to  be  the  western  opening  of  a  strait,  separating  Yucatan 
from  the  continent.  By  this  time  their  provisions  were  nearly 
exhausted,  and  they  had  suffered  greatly  from  disease,  as  well  as 
from  the  spears  and  arrows  of  the  natives ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  return  to  Cuba.  They 
accordingly  bestowed  upon  the  bay,  the  name  of  Terminos,  as 
indicating  the  termination  of  the  land  as  well  as  of  their  own  dis 
covery  at  that  place ;  and  taking  their  course  to  the  north,  they 
soon  encountered  a  storm  by  which  they  were  driven  about  at 
random  for  several  days.  The  pilot  then  proposed,  that  instead 
of  attempting  to  reach  Cuba  by  the  route  followed  on  the  way  to 
Yucatan,  they  should  sail  northward  to  Florida  where  he  had 
already  been  with  Ponce  de  Leon,  and  from  which  the  current 
would  soon  carry  them  to  their  island.  This  being  agreed  to, 
they  were  conducted  to  a  bay  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  pen 
insula,  where  the  vessels  were  anchored,  and  the  men  landed  to 
refresh  themselves.  But  misfortune  still  pursued  them,  for  they 
were  attacked  by  the  ferocious  natives  and  obliged  to  retreat  ere 
their  casks  could  be  filled  with  fresh  water.  In  consequence 
of  this,  they  tortured  with  thirst  during  the  remainder  of  their 
voyage  to  Cuba,  where  they  at  length  arrived,  at  a  harbor  called 
Puerto  de  Carenas,  on  which  the  city  of  Havanna  now  stands.* 

Messengers  were  immediately  sent  to  bear  the  news  of  the  dis 
coveries  with  the  gold  to  the  governor;  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
adventurers  soon  followed,  accompanied  by  two  natives  of  Yuca- 

*  Havanna  was  the  name  originally  given  to  the  western  portion  of  Cuba,  on 
the  south  side  of  which,  a  town  was  founded  in  1514,  called  San  Christobal,  or 
St.  Christopher.  The  place  proving  unsuitable,  its  inhabitants  were  transferred 
to  one  on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  which  received  the  same  name;  and  thence 
they  were  again  carried  in  1519,  to  the  Puerto  de  Carenas,  where  the  town  of 
San  Christobal  de  la  Havanna  finally  rested.  Here,  as  in  innumerable  other  cases, 
the  name  of  the  Saint  was  dropped  in  common  language,  though  it  is  generally 
used  in  official  documents ;  and  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority  in  that  part  of 
Cuba,  is  styled  the  Bishop  of  San  Christobal  de  la  Havanna. 


1518.]  EXPEDITION    OF    GRIJALVA.  47 

tan,  as  living  evidences  of  the  civilization  of  the  inhabitants  of 
that  country.  Velazquez  lost  no  time  in  preparing  to  avail  him 
self  of  the  advantages  thus  presented,  by  obtaining  a  commission 
from  the  Hieronymite  governors  in  Hispaniola,  to  explore  and 
trade  in  the  new  regions,  while  he  also  despatched  agents  to 
Spain,  to  procure  more  extensive  powers  from  the  cardinal  min 
ister.  For  the  first  objects,  he  equipped  four  vessels,  the  com 
mand  of  which  was  given  respectively  to  Juan  de  Grijalva,  Pedro 
de  Alvarado,  Francisco  de  Montejo,  and  Alonzo  de  Avila,  the 
whole  being  under  the  direction  of  Grijalva.  Hernandes  de  Cor 
dova  had  died  soon  after  his  return,  of  wounds  received  in 
Yucatan  and  in  Florida.  The  pilot  Alaminos,  Bernal  Dias  del 
Castillo,  and  many  others  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  former 
expedition,  also  took  part  in  the  second,  as  officers  and  share 
holders. 

The  town  of  Matanzas,  on  the  north-west  side  of  Cuba,  was 
on  this  occasion,  the  place  of  rendezvous,  from  which  the  vessels 
sailed  on  the  5th  of  April,  1518;  eight  days  afterwards,  they 
reached  the  island  of  Cozumel,  near  the  west  coast  of  Yucatan, 
on  which  and  at  other  places  on  that  side,  they  landed,  before 
reaching  Cape  Catoche,  the  north-east  point  of  the  peninsula. 
Thence  they  pursued  their  course,  as  in  the  former  expedition, 
along  the  northern  and  western  shores  of  Yucatan,  frequently 
landing  and  fighting  with  the  natives,  to  the  bay  of  Terminos, 
the  limit  of  the  discoveries  of  Cordova  in  that  direction,  from 
which  the  coast  again  turned  to  the  -west.  Continuing  onwards, 
they  passed  the  mouths  of  the  Tabasco  and  the  Guazecualco 
rivers,  from  the  latter  of  which  the  land  again  trended  to  the 
north;  and  they  soon  beheld  rising  from  the  borders  of  the  sea, 
the  lofty  rugged  volcanic  mass,  named  by  them  Mount  San 
Martin,  in  compliment  to  the  person  who  first  descried  it. 

Beyond  Mount  San  Martin,  Alvarado  entered  a  river,  to  which 
his  name  was  in  consequence  assigned;  and  a  little  farther  north, 
several  sandy  islands  were  observed  near  the  coast,  one  of  which 
was  called  Isla  de  Sacrificios, — Isle  of  Sacrifices, — from  the  re 
mains  of  human  bodies  hanging  in  a  temple  erected  upon  it. 
Another  island,  two  leagues  farther  north,  received  the  appella 
tion  of  San  Juan,  in  honor  of  the  Saint  on  whose  day,  the  24th 
of  June,  it  was  reached ;  and  the  space  between  it  and  the  main- 


48  DISCOVERY    OF    MEXICO.  [1518. 

land,  affording  good  anchorage  and  protection  against  storms, 
the  little  squadron  remained  there  several  days. 

The  mainland  opposite  the  islands,  was  low  and  sandy,  and 
presented  no  signs  of  vegetation  for  some  distance  from  the  sea; 
but  mountains  of  extraordinary  height,  one  of  them  (Orizaba)  a 
beautiful  cone,  white  with  snow,  were  observed  in  the  interior. 
Not  far  from  the  anchorage,  was  a  town  containing  stone  build 
ings,  which,  or  the  country  around  it,  wras  called  Culua  or  Ulua ; 
and  from  the  people  of  this  place,  with  whom  the  Spaniards  soon 
engaged  in  trade,  confused  accounts  were  received  of  a  vast  and 
rich  empire  in  the  interior,  of  which  Mexigo,  or  some  word  re 
sembling  it  in  sound,  appeared  to  be  the  name  either  of  the 
whole,  or  of  the  chief  city  or  province.  The  vague  reports  thus 
collected,  were  confirmed  by  the  superior  intelligence  and  civili 
zation  of  these  people,  and  the  neat  workmanship  of  the  articles 
of  silver  and  gold,  as  well  as  of  cotton,  which  were  obtained 
from  them  in  exchange  for  beads,  knives,  and  other  trifles;  and 
so  well  convinced  was  Grijalva  of  the  existence  of  the  great  em 
pire  which  they  described,  that  he — most  unfortunately  as  it 
proved  for  himself — sent  Alvarado  in  one  of  the  vessels  to  convey 
these  treasures,  with  accounts  of  the  discoveries  to  the  governor 
of  Cuba. 

After  the  departure  of  Alvarado,  which  took  place  in  the  be 
ginning  of  July,  Grijalva,  with  the  three  remaining  vessels,  con 
tinued  the  voyage  along  the  coast  northward,  to  the  mouth  of  a 
river  entering  the  sea,  near  the  32d  degree  of  latitude,  which  was 
named  Rio  de  Canoas — Canoe  river — from  the  number  and  size 
of  the  canoes  used  by  the  natives.  This  was  the  same  stream 
afterwards  called  the  Panuco,  or  Tampico,  on  which  the  town  of 
Tampico  now  stands.  Grijalva  desired  to  proceed  farther ;  but 
the  pilot  Alaminos  did  not  consider  it  prudent  to  do  so,  as  the 
vessels  were  leaky,  and  the  weather  began  to  be  tempestuous  : 
and  they  accordingly  returned  along  the  coast  towards  the  south. 
Grijalva  then  wished  his  men  to  remain  and  form  a  settlement  in 
the  country,  somewhere  near  the  islands  of  San  Juan  and  Sacri- 
ficios;  they  however  unanimously  refused  to  run  the  risks,  and 
insisted  on  returning  to  Cuba,  where  they  arrived  after  a  long 
and  difficult  passage  in  October. 

In  the  meantime,  the  governor  of  Cuba  had  been  very  anxious 


1518.]    CORTES  APPOINTED  TO   COMMAND  THE  ARMAMENT.          49 

with  regard  to  the  vessels,  in  search  of  which,  he,  in  August,  sent 
another  under  the  command  of  Christobal  de  Olid ;  but  soon  after 
the  departure  of  the  latter,  Alvarado  arrived,  bringing  news  of 
the  reported  existence  of  the  great  and  rich  empire  called  Mexico, 
in  the  interior  of  the  countiy  beyond  Yucatan,  as  well  as  gold 
wrought  and  in  bullion,  to  a  large  amount,  obtained  by  trading 
chiefly  at  Ulua  and  its  vicinity.  These  accounts  excited  the 
strongest  sensation  in  Cuba,  and  were  soon  transmitted  to  the 
other  colonies  in  the  West  Indies.  The  discovery  of  Yucatan 
had  been  considered  important,  but  rather  as  an  indication  of  the 
vicinity  of  India;  the  observations  of  Cordova  not  favoring  the 
supposition  that  precious  metals  were  found  there.  On  this 
second  occasion,  gold  enough  had  been  obtained  in  a  few  days, 
at  a  small  town  on  the  coast,  to  defray  all  the,  expenses  of  the 
expedition;  and  the  ambitious  and  grasping  Valazquez,  therefore 
determined  immediately  to  prepare  an  armament,  sufficient  for 
the  conquest  of  this  new  country,  in  anticipation  of  the  receipt 
of  a  commission  to  that  effect  from  Spain. 

Considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the  equipment  of  this 
force  when  Grijalva  returned  to  Cuba;  and  he  moreover  learned, 
to  his  great  mortification,  that  another  person  had  been  appointed 
to  command  it.  The  reports  of  Alvarado  had  not  encouraged 
Velazquez  to  rely  on  the  devotion  of  Grijalva  to  his  interests  as 
exclusively  as  he  desired;  and  although  that  officer  had  evinced 
the  utmost  bravery,  skill,  and  general  capacity  in  the  conduct  of 
his  expedition,  there  was  reason  to  suspect,  that  if  entrusted  with 
more  extensive  powers,  he  might  not  be  content  with  receiving 
merely  such  a  portion  of  the  honors  and  profits  accruing,  as  the 
governor  should  be  pleased  to  assign  to  him.  Panfilo  de  Nar- 
vaez,  the  lieutenant  governor,  had  been  sent  to  Spain  to  present 
the  petition  of  Velazquez  for  authority  to  make  conquests  in  the 
west,  or  he  would  no  doubt  have  received  the  command ;  candi 
dates  were,  however,  not  wanting,  and  the  governor  was  soon 
induced  to  select  from  among  them  his  former  secretary,  Hernando 
Cortes.  This  person  was  then  about  thirty-three  years  of  age; 
he  had  come  to  the  West  Indies  in  1504,  without  fortune  or 
friends,  in  search  as  he  declared,  of  gold  ;  but  had  not,  until  a  few 
months  previous,  engaged  in  any  regular  pursuit,  except  during 
the  short  period  of  his  secretaryship,  after  which  he  remained  for 

r 


50  CORTES   SAILS  FOR  THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO.      [1518. 

several  years  on  bad  terms  with  Velazquez,  and  was  regarded 
only  as  a  dissipated  intriguing  adventurer.  He,  however,  at 
length  became  reconciled  to  the  governor,  the  sister  of  whose  mis 
tress  he  married,  receiving  upon  that  occasion,  the  office  of  Al 
calde  of  Santiago,  together  with  a  large  grant  of  lands  in  the  island. 

These  favors  were  speedily  followed  by  his  appointment  to  the 
command  of  the  expedition  destined  for  the  conquest  of  the  rich 
countries  in  the  west.  In  person,  the  new  commander  was  hand 
some,  strong  and  active  ;  in  disposition,  gay  and  good  humored ; 
and  his  courage  had  been  proved  in  the  wars  with  the  Indians, 
as  well  as  in  numerous  private  quarrels  and  combats;  but  nothing 
had  been  observed  in  his  conduct  or  character,  indicating  the 
mighty  genius,  which  was  soon  to  develope  itself. 

The  utmost  energy  and  efficiency  were  immediately  displayed 
by  Cortes  in  the  preparations  for  his  expedition  ;  every  resource 
which  the  country  could  afford  in  the  way  of  vessels,  arms,  am 
munition  and  other  materials,  was  put  in  requisition,  and  capi 
talists  were  thus  induced  to  subscribe  their  funds  in  aid  of  an 
enterprise,  which  gave  such  promises  of  success.  In  this  man 
ner,  ten  vessels  were  soon  ready  for  sea,  and  a  large  number  of 
men  were  enlisted  at  Santiago  and  other  ports  in  the  island, 
where  the  vessels  were  in  due  time  to  stop  and  receive  them. 
The  governor  had,  meanwhile,  become  thoughtful  and  melan 
choly  ;  for  his  own  observations,  as  well  as  the  remarks  of  those 
around  him,  showed  clearly  that  he  had  made  a  capital  mistake 
as  regarded  the  advancement  of  his  personal  interests,  in  selecting 
Hernando  Cortes  to  conduct  the  expedition ;  and  this  error  was 
soon  followed  by  another,  in  rendering  his  feelings  of  jealousy 
apparent  to  the  object  of  them,  whom  it  only  stimulated  to  greater 
exertions.  He  at  length  resolved  to  deprive  Cortes  of  the  com 
mand  ;  but  ere  he  could  carry  his  determination  into  execution, 
the  daring  leader  of  the  forces  quitted  Santiago  with  all  his  ves 
sels  and  three  hundred  men,  for  another  harbor,  where  he  hastily 
took  on  board  the  people  and  provisions  collected,  and  then  con 
tinued  his  voyage  to  another  still  farther  in  the  direction  of  the 
countries  to  be  invaded.  Proceeding  in  this  manner  from  port 
to  port  along  the  south  side  of  Cuba,  constantly  increasing  his 
strength,  and  constantly  pursued  by  the  agents  of  Velazquez, 
carrying  authority  for  his  arrest,  he  reached  Havanna ;  and  from 


1519.]  VELAZQUEZ    OBTAINS    A    COMMISSION.  51 

that  place,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1519,  he  took  his  final  depar 
ture  for  Yucatan,  with  eleven  vessels  and  more  than  six  hundred 
men,  in  defiance  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  the  governor, 
to  whom  he  sarcastically  sent  the  most  special  assurances  of  his 
fidelity  and  attachment. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  Cortes  from  Cuba,  the  agents  of 
Velazquez  returned  from  Spain,  bringing  him  the  long  expected 
commission  to  conquer  and  possess  the  new  countries.  When 
the  accounts  of  the  discovery  of  Yucatan  reached  Europe,  the 
young  king  Charles  had  recently  arrived  in  his  Spanish  do 
minions  from  the  Netherlands,  surrounded  by  noblemen  and 
favorites  of  the  latter  country,  on  one  of  whom,  the  Admiral  of 
Flanders,  he  immediately  bestowed  not  only  Yucatan,  but  Cuba 
also,  to  be  held  as  fiefs  of  his  crown.  This  act  however  caused 
so  much  indignation  among  the  Castilians,  that  the  concession 
was  revoked;  and  Cardinal  Fonseca,  whom  Velazquez  had  se 
cured  by  large  presents,  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him  a  com 
mission  of  Adelantado,  to  discover,  settle,  and  occupy  any  ter 
ritories  not  already  actually  possessed  by  Spaniards,  in  the 
West  Indies ;  and  to  govern  and  hold  them  for  his  own  use  and 
advantage,  under  certain  conditions,  as  well  as  to  transmit 
those  privileges  to  his  heirs.  The  splendid  prize  thus  held 
out  to  Velazquez  might,  nevertheless,  be  snatched  from  his 
grasp,  as  he  was  convinced  that^  no  reliance  could  be  placed 
on  the  honor  of  the  person  whom  he  had  entrusted  with  the 
command  of  his  forces  in  the  west:  but  he  had  no  alternative, 
except  patiently  to  await  the  progress  of  events ;  and  to  this  he 
resigned  himself,  cursing  the  folly  which  had  led  him  to  be  so 
egregiously  duped. 

The  news  of  the  discoveries  of  Cordova  and  Grijalva,  caused 
preparations  to  be  commenced  in  other  parts  of  the  West  Indies 
for  expeditions  in  the  direction  pursued  by  those  navigators. 
Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  was  collecting  the  means  for  a  new  voyage 
to  Florida,  in  virtue  of  his  commission  as  Adelantado  of  that 
country;  Pedrarias  Davila  despatched  forces  under  Hernandez 
de  Cordova,  through  the  continent,  westward  from  Darien ;  and 
Francisco  de  Garay,  the  governor  of  Jamaica,  devoted  a  portion 
of  his  immense  wealth  to  the  equipment  of  four  vessels,  which 
sailed  from  that  island  in  the  spring  of  1519,  under  Alonzo  Al- 


52  CORTES  LANDS  IK  MEXICO.  [1519, 

varez  Pineda,  to  explore  the  seas  and  coasts  beyond  Cuba.  The 
departure  of  these  armaments,  moreover,  induced  private  indi 
viduals  in  Hispaniola,  to  send  vessels  laden  with  arms,  ammuni 
tion  and  provisions  for  their  supply,  and  articles  for  trade  with 
the  natives  on  the  coasts  of  the  new  countries,  all  of  which  ar 
rived,  as  will  be  seen,  very  opportunely  for  the  success  of  the 
expedition. 

In  the  meantime,  Cortes,  with  his  squadron,  reached  the  Isle 
of  Cozumel;  and  on  the  opposite  shore  of  Yucatan,  he  succeeded 
in  rescuing  from  captivity,  a  Spaniard  who  had  long  remained  in 
that  country,  and  who  rendered  him  important  services  in  the 
sequel,  by  his  knowledge  of  the  people  and  their  language. 
Thence  he  pursued  the  same  course  which  had  been  taken  by 
Grijalva,  along  the  coast  towards  the  west;  and  after  a  variety 
of  adventures,  including  several  conflicts  with  the  Indians,  espe 
cially  on  the  Tabasco  riVer,  he,  on  Good  Friday,  the  21st  of 
April,  1519,  anchored  between  the  little  island  of  San  Juan  and 
the  mainland,  near  the  town  of  Culua,  or  Ulua,  where  Grijalva 
had  obtained  the  first  definite  accounts  of  the  rich  empire  in  the 
interior. 

Of  this  empire,  for  which  Mexico  was  supposed  to  be  the  general 
name,  farther  information  was  procured  at  Ulua  by  Cortes;  and 
ambassadors  soon  after  appeared  from  its  sovereign,  Montezuma, 
bringing  presents  of  gold  in  large  masses,  richly  wrought,  and 
various  other  curious  or  valuable  articles,  but  requiring  the  stran 
gers  at  the  same  time  to  quit  the  territory.  This  of  course 
served  only  to  stimulate  the  cupidity  of  the  Spaniards,  and  to 
lead  them  to  complain,  that  they  should  be  limited  by  the  in 
structions  of  the  governor  of  Cuba,  to  exploration  and  trade, 
instead  of  being  left  at  liberty  to  conquer  and  occupy  a  country 
thus  abounding  in  wealth.  Their  artful  chief,  who  had  left  no 
means  untried  during  the  voyage  to  acquire  their  confidence,  did 
not  fail  secretly  to  foment  this  dissatisfaction ;  and  when  it  had 
reached  the  proper  degree,  he  put  in  execution  the  first  measure 
of  the  scheme  of  self-aggrandizement  wrhich  he  had  devised.  He 
began  by  yielding  to  the  clamorous  entreaties  of  a  large  number 
of  the  officers  and  men  under  his  command,  that  a  settlement 
should  be  formed  in  the  country ;  and  accordingly  on  the  burning 
sand,  opposite  to  the  island  of  San  Juan,  the  streets  and  squares 


1519.]  FOUNDATION  OF  VERA  CRUZ.  53 

of  a  city  were  traced,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  La  Villa  Rica 
de  la  Vera  Cruz — The  Rich  City  of  the  True  Cross — in  honor  of 
the  day  of  their  arrival  at  the  place,  and  in  token  of  the  wealth  of 
which  it  was  to  become  the  depository.  Having  appointed  two 
of  his  most  trusted  adherents  as  Alcaldes  or  chiefs  of  the  muni 
cipality  of  the  new  settlement,  he  formally  surrendered  into  their 
hands,  the  instructions  and  the  commission  of  Captain  General, 
which  he  had  received  from  the  governor  of  Cuba.  This  was 
accepted,  of  course,  most  reluctantly,  and  Cortes  was  then 
induced,  with  great  hesitation,  and  after  long  entreaty,  to  as 
sume  the  government  of  the  country  until  the  pleasure  of  their 
lord,  the  king,  could  be  learned.  A  large  proportion  of  the  offi 
cers  were  attached  to  the  interests  of  Velazquez  and  had  wit 
nessed  the  elevation  of  Cortes  above  themselves  with  feelings  of 
jealousy,  which  on  this  occasion  burst  forth  in  threats  and  impre- 
.  cations;  but  they  had  to  deal  with  one  who  was  not  to  be  in 
timidated,  and  their  leaders,  after  a  few  days  passed  in  prison  and 
chains,  submitted  to  the  overpowering  influence  of  the  master  spirit. 
This  serious  farce  having  been  thus  satisfactorily  played  out, 
Cortes  despatched  a  vessel  to  Spain,  carrying  all  the  presents  re 
ceived  from  Montezuma,  together  with  letters*  from  the  munici 
pality  of  the  new  city  and  from  himself  to  the  king,  under  the 
charge  of  two  of  his  friends,  Puertocarrero  and  Montejo,  who 
were  to  solicit  immediate  succors,  as  well  as  the  confirmation  of 
his  appointment  as  Governor  and  Captain  General,  independent  of 
any  other  authority  in  the  West  Indies.  He  then  marched  with 
a  portion  of  his  men  along  the  coast  towards  the  north,  and 
having  found  a  spotf  at  the  distance  of  thirty  miles  in  that  direc- 

*Of  the  letter  of  Cortes,  which  was  dated  July  16,  1519,  neither  the  original 
nor  any  copy  is'  now  known  to  exist;  it  was  probably,  however,  not  materially 
different,  as  to  the  facts  at  least,  from  that  addressed  at  the  same  time  by  the 
municipality  of  Vera  Cruz,  of  which  a  copy  was  published,  with  other  interesting 
documents  relating  to  the  same  period,  at  Havanna,  in  1843,  by  the  enlightened 
Contador,  Don  Jose  de  Zamora,  since  Regent  of  the  Audiencia  of  Cuba. 

f  This  place  was,  however,  abandoned,  soon  after  the  conquest,  for  another  at 
the  mouth  of  a  small  river,  about  eighteen  miles  farther  south,  where  the  city  of 
Vera  Cruz  subsisted,  until  the  end  of  that  century:  it  was  then  again  transferred 
to  the  spot  first  chosen,  opposite  to  the  island  of  San  Juan,  on  which  a  strong 
castle  had  been  shortly  before  erected,  and  there  it  now  stands.  The  site  last 
abandoned,  is  marked  by  a  small  village  called  la  Antigua, — the  Old  Town, — 
twelve  miles  north  of  the  present  city ;  and  tbe  same  name  is  given  to  the  river 
which  flows  by  it. 


54  COMPLETE    DISCOVERY    OF    THE    MEXICAN    GULF.      [1519. 

tion,  more  suitable  for  a  first  settlement,  it  was  determined  that 
the  Rich  City  of  the  True  Cross  should  be  established  there,  in 
preference  to  the  site  previously  chosen.  Forts,  magazines  and 
dwelling-houses  were  accordingly  erected;  and  treaties  of  peace 
having  been  concluded  with  the  surrounding  cities  and  districts, 
the  fearless  commander  destroyed  his  vessels,  in  order  to  cut  off 
all  means  or  hopes  of  retreat,  and  commenced  his  march  into  the 
interior  in  the  month  of  August. 

The  Spaniards,  however,  had  not  proceeded  far  from  the  coast, 
ere  they  were  recalled  by  the  news  that  four  ships  had  appeared 
off  Vera  Cruz.  They  were  those  of  Garay,  under  Pineda,  whose 
departure  from  Jamaica  has  been  already  mentioned.  From  that 
island,  Pineda  sailed  around  the  western  end  of  Cuba,  and  thence 
northward  until  he  made  the  land,  probably  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Apalachicola  river,  whence  he  endeavored  to  pass  eastward, 
through  the  supposed  channel  north  of  Florida.  Finding  his 
course  barred  by  land  in  that  direction,  he  turned  and  traced 
the  coasts  carefully  to  some  distance  westward,  and  then  south 
ward,  observing  in  his  way  the  mouths  of  several  rivers,  particu 
larly  of  one,  corresponding  nearly  in  position  and  evidently  iden 
tical  with  the  Mississippi,  which  he  named  Rio  del  Espiritu 
Santo,  (river  of  the  Holy  Ghost,)  and  of  another,  called  by  him 
Rio  de  Palmas,  (river  of  Palms,)  which  may  have  been  the  same, 
now  known  as  the  Rio  Grande  or  Rio  Bravo. 

At  length,  in  the  beginning  of  August,  Pineda  reached  the 
place  where  Cortes  had  established  his  city  of  Vera  Cruz ;  and 
as  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies  were  always  mistrustful 
of  each  other,  he  took  the  precaution,  before  anchoring,  to 
send  a  few  men  ashore,  to  make  enquiries.  These  men  were 
carried  before  Cortes,  who  easily  induced  them  to  enter  his 
service,  and  to  engage  in  a  scheme  for  the  capture  of  the 
vessels ;  Pineda,  however,  having  had  his  suspicions  excited, 
sailed  away  northward,  to  a  river  which  he  had  already  visited, 
near  the  22d  degree  of  latitude,  where  he  found  a  large  city, 
called  Panuco,  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  and  populous  district. 
This  was,  no  doubt,  the  same  which  had  received  from  Grijalva, 
the  name  of  Canoe  river;  yet  Pineda  considered  himself  the  dis 
coverer,  and  accordingly  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the 


1519.] 


FIRST    CHART    OF    THE    MEXICAN    GULF. 


55 


name  of  his  sovereign ;  and  after  remaining  there  sometime,  en 
gaged  in  trading  and  in  repairing  his  vessels,  he  returned  to 
Jamaica  in  October. 

This  voyage  was  important,  as  it  served  to  prove,  that  the 
Florida  discovered  by  Ponce  de  Leon  was  a  peninsula  and  not 
an  island ;  and  that  the  Atlantic  did  not  communicate  with  the 

*  The  account  here  presented  of  the  voyage  of  Pineda,  is  derived  chiefly  from 
•Navarrete,  who  has  given  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Collection,  a  copy  of  the 
patent,  or  commission,  granted  by  Charles  V,  to  Garay,  in  1521,  to  settle  and 
possess  the  country  north  of  the  Panuco,  as  will  be  hereafter  related ;  the  pre 
amble  to  which  patent  recapitulates  the  principal  discoveries  made  by  Pineda, 
during  the  voyage  in  question.  Accompanying  this  paper,  is  a  fac-simile  of  the 
chart  sent  to  Spain  by  Garay,  in  support  of  his  petition,  of  which  a  reduced  copy 
is  here  presented : 


In  this  chart,  which  is  curious  as  being  the  earliest  representation  of  the  coasts 
of  the  Mexican  gulf,  and  is  remarkably  correct,  considering  the  circumstances, 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo  is  placed  somewhat  farther  west  than 
the  entrance  of  the  Mississippi  should  be ;  probably  in  consequence  of  the  cur 
rent,  against  which  Pineda  had  to  struggle  in  sailing  along  that  coast,  rendering 
his  estimates  of  the  distance  passed  over  too  great.  The  same  error  as  to  the 
position  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  is,  however,  found  in  all  maps  of  the 
gulf  before  the  last  century. 


56     VELAZQUEZ  INFORMED  OF  PROCEEDINGS  OF  CORTES.    [1519. 

Pacific  or  with  the  Indian  ocean,  west  of  Cuba,  but  was  bounded 
in  that, direction,  by  land,  enclosing  a  great  gulf  or  interior  sea. 
The  shores  of  this  sea,  first  called  by  the  Spaniards  the  Gulf  of 
Florida,  and  afterwards  the  Mexican  Gulf,  were  delineated  on  the 
chart  sent  to  Spain  by  Garay  with  the  report  of  the  voyage,  in  a 
manner  so  nearly  exact,  as  to  show  that  Pineda  had  conducted 
his  survey  with  extraordinary  care  and  success,  considering  the 
time  employed  on  it,  and  the  means  at  his  disposition.  The. 
countries  seen  by  him  were,  indeed,  for  the  most  part,  low  and 
barren  :  there  wrere,  however,  reasons  to  suppose,  that  the  interior 
regions  might  be  rich  and  populous,  especially  those  contiguous 
to  Panuco ;  and  Garay  accordingly  sent  back  the  vessels  in  the 
following  year,  under  Diego  de  Camargo,  to  form  a  settlement  at 
that  place,  while  he  at  the  same  time,  took  measures  to  procure 
from  Spain  a  commission  to  conquer  and  possess  the  territory. 

Meanwhile,  the  ship  sent  by  Cortes  to  Spain,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  the  able  pilot  Alaminos,  took  her  course  across  the  gulf  to 
the  north  side  of  Cuba,  where,  one  of  the  envoys,  in  express  con 
travention  of  his  instructions,  insisted  on  landing,  in  order  to 
visit  his  plantation ;  and  some  of  her  crew  deserting  her  at  that 
place,  conveyed  accounts  of  all  that  had  occurred,  to  the  governor 
at  Santiago.  Great  was  the  rage  of  Velazquez  on  learning  the 
daring  step  taken  by  his  faithless  captain :  but  he  did  not  despair ; 
and  trusting  to  his  influence  in  Spam,  to  prevent  the  concession 
of  any  further  powers  to  Cortes,  he  began  the  equipment  of  a 
large  force,  which  he  prepared  to  send  to  Mexico  under  his  lieu 
tenant,  Panfilo  de  Narvaez,  in  order  to  re-establish  his  authority 
and  punish  the  usurper. 

Ere  the  envoys  of  Cortes  arrived,  in  Europe,  the  king  of  Arra- 
gon  and  Castile,  or  king  of  Spain,  as  he  chose  to  style  himself, 
had  been  raised  by  election,  to  the  imperial  throne  of  Germany, 
which  he  occupied  for  nearly  forty  years,  as  the  emperor  Charles 
V.  This  election  was  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  his  Spanish 
subjects,  as  he  immediately  afterwards  manifested  the  strongest 
anxiety  to  leave  them,  in  order  to  enjoy  his  higher  powers  and  dig 
nities  in  Germany ;  and  insurrections  broke  out  in  various  parts 
of  Castile  and  Arragon,  with  the  object  of  depriving  him  of  the 
crowns  of  those  kingdoms.  The  disturbances  were,  however, 
queUed  by  concessions  on  promises ;  and  by  the  same  means 


1519.]       CORTES'  AGENTS  UNSUCCESSFUL  IN  SPAIN.  57 

moreover,  Charles  obtained  the  supplies  of  money  required  to 
make  a  suitable  appearance  on  the  grand  theatre  on  which  he  was 
to  play  his  part.  Among  these  concessions  was,  probably,  the 
solemn  act,  in  the  form  of  a  royal  decree,*  by  which  the  West 
Indies,  including  all  the  territories  wTest  of  the  Atlantic, secured  to 
Castile  by  the  Papal  grant  and  the  treaty  of  partition  with  Portu 
gal,  were  declared  to  be  irrevocably  and  inalienably  annexed  to 
the  crown  of  the  former  kingdom  ;  while  the  ministerial  council 
for  the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  those  dominions  wTas  extended 
and  raised  to  the  rank  of  the  other  bodies  of  the  same  character, 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  sovereign. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  September,  1519,  during  the  exist 
ence  of  this  disturbed  state  of  things  in  Spain,  that  the  envoys  of 
Cortes  arrived  in  that  kingdom,  and  presented  themselves  before 
the  president  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies  at  Valladolid.  They 
were  received,  contrary  to  their  hopes,  with  coldness  and  harsh 
ness  by  Fonseca,  who  used  every  means  to  prevent  them  from 
seeing  the  emperor,  while  he  at  the  same  time  labored  earnestly, 
to  support  the  claims  of  Velazquez.  They  however,  after  wait 
ing  several  months,  succeeded  in  procuring  an  audience  with 
their  sovereign,  who  treated  them  with  much  condescension,  ac 
cepted  the  presents  of  gold  and  other  articles  received  from  Mon- 
tezuma,  and  promised  to  listen  to  their  representations  at  Co- 

*  The  decree  to  this  effect,  issued  by  the  emperor  at  Barcelona,  on  the  14th  of 
September,  1519,  is  as  follows: 

"By  donation  from  the  Holy  Apostolic  See,  and  other  just  and  legitimate  titles, 
We  are  Sovereign  of  the  West  Indies,  of  the  islands  and  the  mainland  of  the 
ocean,  discovered  or  which  may  be  discovered;  and  they  are  incorporated  with 
Our  Royal  Crown  of  Castile.  And  as  it  is  Our  will,  and  We  have  promised  arid 
sworn,  that  they  shall  ever  remain  united  thereto,  for  their  greater  duration  and 
strength,  We  prohibit  their  alienation.  And  We  decree  that  they  shall  at  no 
time  be  separated,  or  disunited,  or  divided,  in  the  whole  or  in  part,  or  in  their 
cities,  towns  or  settlements,  from  Our  Royal  Crown  of  Castile,  in  any  case,  or  in 
favor  of  any  person  whomsoever.  And  considering  the  fidelity  of  Our  vassals, 
and  the  labors  of  the  discoverers  and  settlers,  in  proceeding  thither,  to  explore 
and  occupy  them,  in  order  that  they  may  have  greater  certainty  and  confidence 
in  their  perpetual  union  to  Our  Royal  Crown,  We  promise  and  give  Our  Royal 
Word,  for  Ourselves  and  for  the  kings,  Our  successors,  that  they  shall  never  be 
alienated  or  divided,  in  whole  or  in  part,  or  in  their  cities,  towTns  or  settlements, 
for  any  cause  or  reason,  or  in  favor  of  any  person  whomsoever:  and  if  We,  or 
Our  successors,  should  make  any  donation  or  alienation,  contrary  to  what  is  here 
above  set  forth,  it  shall  be  null  and  void,  as  We  here  declare  it." — Recopilacion 
de  Leyes  de  Indias,  Lib.  IJI.  Tit.  I.  Ley.  I. 

8     i 


58          VELAZQUEZ    SENDS    NARVAEZ    AGAINST    CORTES.       [1519. 

runna,  where  he  was  to  embark  in  May  following  for  Flanders. 
But  at  the  time  and  place  thus  appointed,  Charles  had  to  attend 
to  the  affairs  of  the  admiral  Diego  Colon,  wrho  was  reinstated  in 
his  viceroyalty  at  Santo  Domingo,  and  to  many  others  of  a  press 
ing  nature ;  so  that  he  had  no  leisure  to  devote  to  a  matter  appa 
rently  so  little  important,  as  a  question  of  authority  between  a 
West  India  governor  and  his  subordinate.  He  accordingly  sailed 
from  Corunna  for  the  Netherlands  on  the  22d  of  May,  1520,  with 
out  seeing  Montejo  and  Puertocarrero,  and  left  the  settlement 
of  their  business  in  the  hands  of  the  cardinal,  who  of  course  de 
cided  it  in  favor  of  Velazquez.  The  propriety  of  such  a  decision 
can  scarcely  be  denied,  though  considerations  of  justice  probably 
had  little  effect  in  producing  it ;  for  it  Was  certainly  incumbent 
on  the  minister  to  sustain  the  regularly  constituted  and  legal  au 
thority,  which  had  been  so  audaciously  violated  by  the  trickery 
of  Cortes,  in  defiance  of  his  duty  to  the  government  as  well  as 
of  good  faith  to  Velazquez.  Messengers  were  accordingly  sent 
to  bear  to  the  governor  of  Cuba  a  complete  confirmation  of  his 
powers,  with  authority  to  punish  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  rebel 
lious  captain  of  his  squadron.  Ere  they  arrived  there,  however, 
Velazquez  had  already  despatched  a  large  fleet  to  Vera  Cruz 
with  that  object;  notwithstanding  the  opposition  made  to  his 
proceedings  by  the  Hieronymites  in  Espaliola,  who  sent  Vazquez 
de  Ayllon,  an  influential  member  of  the  Audiencia  or  Supreme 
Court,  to  accompany  the  expedition,  and  to  prevent  as  far  as 
possible,  any  violence  against  Cortes.  Velazquez  awaited  the 
result  with  but  little  anxiety,  as  he  conceived  that  whatso 
ever  might  be  the  influence  of  Cortes  over  his  men,  it  must 
fail  on  the  appearance  of  a  superior  force,  sustained  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  crown  and  headed  by  an  officer  so  distinguished 
as  Panfilo  de  Narvaez. 

But  Velazquez  was  destined  to  suffer  still  greater  disappoint 
ment,  from  this  attempt  to  subdue  the  mighty  spirit  unadvisedly 
raised  by  him  in  the  appointment  of  Corjes  to  the  command  of 
his  first  armament. 

Immediately  after  the  departure  of  Pineda  from  the  vicinity  of 
Vera  Cruz  in  August,  1519,  Cortes  having  placed  a  small  garri 
son  there,  under  Gonzalo  de  Sandoval,  one  of  his  most  devoted 
followers,  departed  with  the  others  towards  the  interior;  and 


1519.]          ADVANCE    OF    CORTES    INTO    THE    INTERIOR.  59 

crossing  the  stupendous  mountain  range  which  runs  through  that 
part  of  the  continent,  he  reached  a  wide  expanse  of  elevated  ter 
ritory,  containing  many  fertile  tracts,  thickly  inhabited  by  indus 
trious  people,  who  though  barbarous  in  some  respects,  were  little 
inferiojr  in  general  civilization  to  those  of  western  Europe.  These 
tracts  were  all  highly  cultivated ;  and  the  adventurous  Spaniards 
saw  rising  before  them,  large  and  populous  cities,  abounding  in 
palaces,  temples  and  other  edifices  of  stone  laboriously  carved, 
while  their  cupidity  was  excited  to  the  utmost,  by  the  profusion 
of  utensils  and  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver,  displayed  on  every 
side.  The  country  was  divided  into  a  number  of  principalities  or 
republics,  all  of  which  were  subject  in  some  degree,  to  Montezu- 
ma  the  sovereign  of  the  valley  of  Anahuac,*  and  lord  of  the  great 
city  of  Tenochtitlan  or  Mexico,  situated  in  the  midst  of  A  lake, 
surrounded  by  mountains.  Towards  this  capital,  did  Cortes, 
with  his  four  hundred  and  fifteen  followers,  direct  his  course, 
alternately  fighting  and  treating  with  the  various  powers  on  the 
way,  and  always  gaining  strength,  either  by  victories  or  alliances. 
The  poor  Indians,  armed  only  with  clubs,  bows  and  arrows  and 
spears,  unacquainted  with  gunpowder,  with  horses,  and  even  with 
iron,  were,  notwithstanding  the  bravery  which  they  often  exhib 
ited,  soon  cowed  into  submission  before  their  terrible  invaders, 
who,  clad  in  impenetrable  mail,  mounted  on  animals  of  monstrous 
form  and  size,  and  dealing  forth  thunderbolts,  as  deadly  as  those 
from  heaven,  were  regarded  as  the  dire  instruments  of  some  in 
censed  deity. 

*  The  name  Anahuac  signified  "the country  on  the  water,"  and  seems  to  have 
been  originally  confined  to  the  valley  containing  the  capital,  and  to  have  been 
afterwards  extended  to  all  the  territories  over  which  the  sovereign  of  that  valley 
obtained  authority.  Tenochtitlan,  the  name  of  the  capital,  meant  a  cactus  or 
prickly  pear  growing  on  a  rock ;  and  it  arose  from  a  tradition — or,  perhaps,  gave 
rise  to  the  story — that  the  Aztecs,  the  dominant  race  in  those  countries,  who  are 
supposed  to  have  arrived  there  from  the  north-west  about  the  year  1325  of  the 
Christian  era,  were  induced  to  establish  themselves  on  the  spot,  in  consequence 
of  the  favorable  omen  drawn  from  the  appearance  of  an  eagle,  holding  a  serpent 
in  his  claws,  and  perched  on  a  cactus  growing  from  a  rock  in  the  middle  of 
the  lake,  as  now  represented  on  the  Mexican  dollar.  The  name  of  Mexico  is 
said  to  have  been  derived  from  the  war  god  Mexitl,  the  special  protector  of  the 
capital;  but  this  is  spmewhat  doubtful.  After  the  conquest,  it  was  applied  by  the 
Spaniards  first  to  the  capital  city,  re-built  on  the  ruins  of  Tenochtitlan,  then  to 
the  valley,  and  then  to  the  whole  country,  which  was,  however,  always  denomi 
nated  New  Spain  in  official  documents 


60   CORTES  ESTABLISHES  HIMSELF  IN  TENOCHTITLAN.  [1519. 

Three  months  were  thus  passed  in  combats  and  negotiations, 
in  which  short  time,  Cortes  had  displayed  all  the  qualities  of  a 
consummate  general,  and  of  a  profound  politician;  and  he  had 
acquired  an  influence  over  his  own  men,  which  rendered  them 
obedient  to  his  commands  in  every  respect,  notwithstanding 
the  bitter  animosity  entertained  towards  him  by  a  large  num 
ber.  At  the  end  of  this  period,  the  Spaniards  had  reduced  to 
submission  the  powerful  states  of  Tlascala  and  Cholula,  which 
formed  the  outworks  or  barriers  of  the  imperial  domains  of  Ana- 
huac ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  November,  they  entered  the  great 
valley  containing  .that  state,  and  saw  the  towers  and  temples  of 
Tenochtitlan,  standing  out  from  the  bright  surface  of  the  lake,  in 
which  the  city  sat  like  Venice  "throned  on  her  hundred  isles." 
The  enaperor,  Montezuma,  astounded  by  their  successes,  had 
invited  them  to  visit  him  in  this  capital,  where  they  accordingly 
established  themselves  in  one  of  his  palaces,  situated  in  the  centre 
of  the  city.  Cortes  soon  after  seized  the  unhappy  monarch, 
and  conveying  him  to  that  place,  made  use  of  his  power  and 
of  the  reverence  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  people,  to  extort 
from  them,  not  only  abundant  supplies  of  provisions,  but  also 
large  amounts  of  gold,  silver  and  jewels. 

In  this  manner  the  Spaniards  remained  in  Tenochtitlan  for 
several  months,  in  a  condition  between  that  of  masters  and  cap 
tives;  accumulating  riches  in  their  quarters,  from  which  they 
could,  however,  seldom  venture  to  stir,  and  loading  their  royal 
hostage  with  every  species  of  indignity  in^  private,  though  they 
evinced  the  utmost  respect  for  him  in  presence  of  his  subjects. 
Whilst  thus  awaiting  the  arrival  of  succors  and  of  the  confirma 
tion  of  his  powers  from  Spain,  Cortes  could  not  avoid  observing, 
that  the  irritation  as  well  as  the  confidence  of  the  inhabitants  was 
increasing,  and  that  his  own  men,  on  the  other  hand,  were  daily 
becoming  more  depressed  and  discontented.  The  partizans  of 
Velazquez  among  the  Spaniards,  were  ready  at  any  moment, 
when  an  opportunity  should  offer,  to  depose  their  actual  leader 
from  the  command ;  while  the  others  cursed  his  temerity,  when 
they  reflected  on  their  critical  situation,  especially  when  .the 
ominous  shrieks  of  human  victims  fell  on  their  ears,  from  the 
principal  Teocalli  or  temple,  opposite  their  quarters,  on  which 


1520.]      DEFEAT    AND    CAPTURE    OF    NARVAEZ    BY    CORTES.       61 

those  horrible  sacrifices  were  daily  made   in  propitiation  of  the 
offended  deities  of  Anahuac. 

At  length  in  May,  1520,  when  the  Spaniards  were  nearly  ex 
hausted  with  anxiety  and  watching,  and  their  leader  was  straining 
every  faculty  of  mind  and  body  to  preserve  his  authority  over 
them,  and  his  influence  with  the  people  of  Tenochtitlan  through 
the  agency  of  their  wretched  captive  monarch,  information  was 
received,  that  a  large  fleet  had  arrived  at  San  Juan  de  Ulua;  and 
letters  soon  after  came  from  Sandoval,  the  commandant  of  Vera 
Cruz,  stating  that  those  vessels  were  sent  from  Cuba,  undei 
Panfilo  de  Narvaez,  who  was  charged  by  Velazquez,  to  take  the 
command  of  all  the  Spanish  forces  in  that  country.  Cortes  was 
of  course  much  disturbed  by  this  news ;  but  he  was  one  of  those 
\vith  whom  difficulties  and  dangers  serve  only  to  call  their  powers 
into  action.  From  the  centre  of  the  capital  of  Anahuac,  he  opened 
communications  with  the  officers  of  Naf  vaez  on  the  coast,  several 
of  whom  wrere  speedily  gained  to  his  interests,  by  presents  and 
promises ;  and  having  thus  prepared  the  way,  he  suddenly  quitted 
the  city  .with  all  his  men  except  eighty- three  who  were  left 
to  guard  Montezuma  and  the  treasures,  and  marched  rapidly  to 
wards  Vera  Cruz.  Near  that  place  he  was  joined  by  the  faithful 
Sandoval  and  his  little  garrison,  and  with  this  addition  to  his 
strength,  he  fell  upon  Narvaez  in  his  quarters  at  an  Indian  town 
not  far  from  the  squadron,  and  wounded  and  made  him  prisoner 
ere  he  could  summon  his  guards  to  the  defence.  Such  was 
the  effect  produced  by  this  energetic  movement,  that  the  troops 
of  the  captive  commander  immediately  threw  aside  the  authority 
of  Velazquez,  and  enlisted  wTith  shouts  of  joy  under  the  banners 
of  his  rival. 

Cortes  was  thus  enabled  to  return,  with  nearly  three  times  his 
original  force,  to  the  capital,  where  he,  however,  found  the  people 
in  open  insurrection,  in  consequence  of  the  violent  and  overbear 
ing  conduct  of  his  lieutenant,  Alvarado.  Nor  did  his  arrival, 
with  this  additional  strength,  serve  to  allay  the  storm.  A  dense 
throng  constantly  surrounded  the  quarters  of  the  Spaniards,  inter 
cepting  their  supplies  of  food  and  water,  and  murdering  all  who 
ventured  out  in  search  of  them;  and  their  courage  increasing 
with  their  numbers,  they  soon  commenced  an  attack  with  fire, 
stones  and  arrows,  in  the  course  of  which,  their  captive  sover- 


62          CORTES  EXPELLED  FROM  TENOCHTITLAN.     [1521. 

eign,  attempting  to  address  them,  fell  a  victim  to  the  rage  of  his 
exasperated  subjects.  Cortes  having  thus  lost  his  principal 
means  of  restraining  the  people,  found  it  indispensable  to  aban 
don  Tenochtitlan ;  and  after  several  unsuccessful  attempts,  in 
which  many  of  his  men  were  killed,  or  made  prisoners  and  im 
mediately  sacrificed  on  the  temple,  he  effected  his  retreat,  though 
with  great  loss,  through  the  city  and  over  the  long  and  narrow 
causeway  of  Tacuba,  on  the.  dreadful  night, — la  noche  triste, — • 
of  the  1st  of  July.  The  particulars  of  that  celebrated  retreat,  of 
the  harrassed  march  of  the  Spaniards  across  the  valley  of  Ana- 
huac,  and  of  their  decisive  victory  at  Otumba,  on  the  8th  of  the 
same  month,  have  been  so  often  and  so  graphically  described, 
that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  dwell  on  them. 

For  some  months  after  the  battle  of  Otumba,  the  Spaniards 
were  engaged  in  recovering  their  influence  over  their  former  In 
dian  allies,  and  in  reducing  some  smaller  states  to  submission ; 
after  which  they  prepared  for  another  attack  upon  Tenochtitlan. 
In  the  meantime  they  received  many  additions  to  their  numbers, 
as  well  as  to  their  materials,  from  various  sources.  Two  vessels 
which  had  been  despatched  from  Cuba  with  reinforcements  and 
supplies  for  Narvaez,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  commandant  at 
Vera  Cruz,  where  they  anchored  without  suspicion,  while  others 
arrived  from  Europe  and  the  West  Indies,  bringing  arms  and 
munitions  of  war  for  sale,  as  well  as  adventurers  whom  the  fame 
of  the  achievements  of  Cortes  attracted  to  his  service.  The  ships 
sent  by  Garay  from  Jamaica,  under  Diego  de  Camargo,  to  form 
a  settlement  at  Panuco,  after  remaining  there  some  time,  were 
attacked  by  the  people,  who  destroyed  one  of  them  and  com 
pelled  the  others  to  leave  the  river ;  and  the  crews  of  the  latter, 
carried  the  vessels  to  Vera  Cruz,  from  which  they  proceeded  to 
join  the  army  in  the  interior. 

Thus  strengthened,  Cortes  re-entered  the  valley  of  Anahuac,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1521,  at  the  head  of  more  than  twelve 
hundred  Spaniards  and  ten  thousand  Indian  auxiliaries,  chiefly 
from  Tlascala;  and  having  soon  subdued  the  cities  surrounding 
Tenochtitlan,  and  with  infinite  labor  constructed  and  launched 
several  small  vessels  on  the  lake,  the  capital  was  invested  on  all 
sides  by  his  forces,  in  the  middle  of  June.  It  was  defended  by 
the  new  emperor  Guatimozin  and  his  people,  with  all  the  con- 


1521.1        SIEGE    AND     DESTRUCTION    OF    TENOCHTITLAN.  63 

stancy  and  energy  which  despair  and  desperation  could  inspire ; 
but  the  superiority  of  European  arms  and  discipline,  rendered  the 
Spaniards  irresistible,  and  the  standard  of  Castile  was  planted 
among  the  ruins  of  Tenochtitlan  on  the  13th  of  August.  The 
emperor  and  all  his  family  were  made  prisoners  ;  a  large  propor 
tion  of  the  inhabitants,  fell  in  the  siege,  while  others  fled  in 
various  directions,  spreading  terror  wherever  they  appeared  and 
rendering  the  task  of  conquest  more  easy  to  the  Spaniards. 

Immediately  after  the  capture  of  the  city,  parties  were  sent, 
in  various  directions  under  leaders  of  approved  courage  and  fidel 
ity,  to  explore  and  reduce  to  submission  the  contiguous  portions 
of  the  empire,  which  was  soon  effected  with  little  opposition  in 
any  case.  Cortes  himself  remained  in  Anahuac,  where  he  en 
deavored  to  restore  confidence  among  the  natives,  and  to  induce 
them  to  return  to  their  homes ;  and  the  same  energy  and  efficiency 
which  had  distinguished  him  in  the  war,  were  employed  in  the 
re-establishment  of  peace  and  the  removal  of  all  signs  of  devas 
tation.  The  horrible  religion  of  the  country  was  every  where 
abolished,  with  little  difficulty ;  for  the  people  regarding  their 
gods  as  false  or  impotent,  hastened  to  place  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  those  whose  worshippers  were  endowed  with  such 
irresistible  powers.  The  blood-stained  Teocallis  were  overthrown 
and  their  materials  were  employed  in  the  construction  of  churches, 
palaces  and  fortresses ;  the  fair  city  of  Mexico,  on  a  plan  more 
regular  and  conformable  with  European  customs,  was  founded 
among  the  ruins  of  Tenochtitlan  ;  and  the  empire  of  the  Monte- 
zumas  was  converted  into  the  Castilian  kingdom  of  New  Spain. 

Such  were  the  principal  occurrences  of  an  enterprise,  extraor 
dinary  in  events  as  in  results,  and  more  extraordinary,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  recorded  in  history,  considering  the  magnitude  of 
those  events  and  results,  when  compared  with  the  means  by 
which  they  were  produced.  It  was  effected  as  already  shown,  by 
a  few  hundred  Spaniards,  entirely  without  legal  authority  from 
their  government,  and  under  circumstances  which  would  have 
placed  them  at  the  present  day  in  the  category  of  pirates  and 
robbers :  and  pirates  and  robbers  they  were,  in  the  design  as  well 
as  in  the  conduct  of  their  expedition,  undertaken  as  it  was,  solely 
with  the  object  of  plunder,  and  accompanied  at  every  step  by 
acts  of  basest  falsehood  and  perfidy,  and  cold  and  cruel  barbarity, 


64  REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    CONQUEST    OF    MEXICO.        [1521. 

in  all  of  which,  their  leader  was  ever  foremost.  The  romantic 
splendor  of  the  achievement,  and  the  magnitude  of  its  conse 
quences,  have,  however,  thrown  these  deeds  into  obscurity,  and 
have  rendered  the  places  in  which  they  -were  committed  classic 
grounds.  '  The  sandy  shore  of  Vera  Cruz,  the  circumvallations 
of  Tlascala,  the  pyramid  of  Cholula,  the  great  square  of  Mexico, 
the  plain  of  Otumba,  and  all  the  other  theatres  of  the  conquest — 
are  now  visited  by  travellers  from  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world 
with  an  interest  scarcely  less  intense  than  that  excited  by  the 
fields  of  Cannse,  and  Hastings,  or  the  ruined  walls  of  Saguntum. 
Every  fact  relating  to  Cortes  and  his  followers,  which  can  be 
gleaned  from  chronicles  or  manuscripts,  is  eagerly  seized,  and 
subjected  to  the  same  critical  analysis  which, wrould  be  bestowed 
on  memorials  of  the  Crusades  or  the  Norman  invasion  of  Eng 
land  ;  and  the  historian  who  portrays  the  deeds  of  those  Spanish 
heroes,  if  not  carried  away  by  the  enthusiasm  which  the  subject 
seldom  fails  to  create,  is  obliged,  under  pain  of  being  charged 
with  pedantry  and  affectation,  to  soften  down  the  rugged  points 
in  their  characters,  and  to  excuse  or  palliate  their  enormities.* 

*  Of  the  many  accounts  of  the  Spanish  conquest  of  Mexico  by  authors  who 
took  no  part  in  it,  those  of  Solis  and  Prescott  stand  deservedly  pre-eminent ;  and 
the  latter  work  would  seem  to  render  superfluous,  any  farther  attempt  to  illus 
trate  that  interesting  portion  of  Mexican  history.  Solis,  a  Spaniard,  writing  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  could  not  have  been  expected  to  regard  with  severity 
these  acts  of  his  countrymen  ;  and  the  imagination  of  Prescott  rendered  him 
peculiarly  susceptible  of  the  magic  influence  exerted  by  his  subject  over  all 
who  have  placed  themselves  within  its  circle.  It  is,  indeed,  impossible  as  yet 
to  obtain  a  correct  idea  of  those  events  without  a  careful  study  of  the  original 
authorities,  such  as  the  Despatches  of  Cortes,  the  Narrative  of  Bernal  Dias  del 
Castillo,  and  the  History  of  the  Conquest  by  Gomara ;  and  the  subject  still 
remains  open  for  the  exercise  of  some  cold  judgment  in  the  investigation  of  its 
details,  as  well  as  in  assembling  them  for  final  decision.  This  revisal  has 
become  the  more  necessary  since  the  second  conquest  of  the  same  countries — 
scarcely  less  extraordinary  than  the  first — by  the  forces  of  the  United  States 
under  Scott,  who  has  thus  proved  himself  inferior  to  no  leader  of  his  age  in 
military  capacity,  and  to  no  man  of  any  age  in  observance  of  the  dictates  of 
humanity  towards  friends  and  foes.  It  would  be  improper  here  to  attempt  a 
comparison  between  the  circumstances  of  these  two  memorable  expeditions  ; 
but  the  belief  may  be  expressed  with  confidence,  that  such  a  comparison,  when 
made,  will  show  the  difficulties  surmounted  in  1847,  by  the  genius  and  skill  of 
the  American  commander,  and  the  courage  and  perseverance  of  his  troops,  to 
have  been  not  less  formidable  in  every  respect,  than  those  over  which  Cortes  and 
his  Spaniards  triumphed  in  1520 


1520.]  FIRST    VOYAGE    OF    AYLLON    TO    FL6RIDA.  65 

Several  voyages  of  discovery  had  meanwhile  been  made 
towards  the  countries  north  and  west  of  Cuba,  in  the  course  of 
which,  much  additional  light  was  thrown  on  the  geography  of 
that  part  of  the  New  World.  The  first  of  these  expeditions  was 
conducted  by  Lucas  Vazquez  de  Ayllon,  already  mentioned  as  a 
member  of  the  Audiencia  or  high  court  of  Hispaniola,  who  being 
in  want  of  laborers  for  his  sugar  plantations,  joined  with  some 
other  persons,  in  equipping  two  vessels,  and  sailed  to  the  Bahama 
islands,  in  the  summer  of  1520,  in  quest  of  Indian  slaves.  Not 
succeeding  in  his  object  in  that  archipelago,  Ayllon  continued  his 
course  towards  the  north-west,  and  near  the  33d  degree  of  lati 
tude,  made  the  land  at  the  mouth. of  a  river,  which  was  called 
the  Jordan,  after  one  of  his  crew ;  the  point,  of  land  at  its  entrance 
being  at  the  same  time  named  Cape  Santa  Helena,  in  honor  of  its 
discovery,  on  the  18th  of  August,  the  day  dedicated  to  that  saint, 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  calendar.  From  that  point,  Ayllon,  ac 
cording  to  his  account,  explored  the  coasts  as  far  north  as  the 
37th  degree  of  latitude,*  landing  in  many  places,  the  names  of 
which  are  recorded  by  him ;  and  having  on  the  last  occasion 
enticed  on  board  of  his  vessels  a  number  of  stout  savages,  he 
sailed  with  them  for  Hispaniola,  on  the  way  to  which,  however, 
one  of  the  vessels  was  lost  or  carried  by  her  crew  to  Vera  Cruz, 
while  the  greater  portion  of  the  captives  in  the  other,  died  from 
despondency.  The  name  of  Santa  Helena  was,  forty-five  years 
afterwards,  given  to  an  island  in  latitude  of  32  degrees  28  minutes, 
and  is  now  applied  to  a  contiguous  inlet,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
large  river  Combahee,  forty-five  miles  south  of  Charleston  in 
South  Carolina.  The  Jordan  has  been  considered  identical  with 
every  large  river  in  succession  between  the  Savannah  and  the 
Cape  Fear  inclusive.  The  statements  of  Ayllon  are,  however, 
like  those  of  all  his  cotemporaries,  so  vague  as  regards  geographi- 

*  In  the  commission  granted  by  Charles  V.  to  Ayllon,  in  1523,  to  occupy  this 
country,  it  is  described  from  the  reports  of  his  first  voyage,  as  "a  land  of  which 
no  knowledge  has  hitherto  been  obtained,  situated  in  35,  36  and  37  degrees  of 
north  latitude,  north  of  the  island  of  Hispaniola;  and  from  all  that  has  been  seen 
or  learned,  it  is  believed  to  be  very  fertile,  rich,  and  well  adapted  for  settlements, 
containing  many  trees  and  plants  similar  to  those  in  Spain,  and  the  people  being 
more  docile  and  likely  to  become  civilized,  than  those  of  Hispaniola  or  any  of 
the  other  islands  as  yet  discovered;  and  you  have  also  learned,  that  the  greater 
part  o^this  land  is  ruled  by  a  man  of  gigantic  size;  and  that  pearls  and  other 
articles  for  trade  may  be  found  in  it,  &c." 

9 


66  LAST    EXPEDITION    OF    PONCE     DE    LEON.  [1521. 

cal  positions,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  ascertain  to  what 
point  they  refer. 

In  the  following  year,  1521,  whilst  the  siege  of  Tenochtitlan 
was  in  progress,  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  made  his  second  expedi 
tion  from  Porto  Rico,  in  virtue  of  his  commission  as  Adelantado 
of  Florida  and  Bimini,  which  terminated  most  disastrously. 
Having  reached  the  western  side  of  the  peninsula  of  Florida,  he 
landed,  with  a  number  of  men,  in  a  bay  which  seems  to  have 
been  either  Charlotte  harbor  or  Tampa  bay,  and  thence  began  his 
march  into  the  interior,  in  search  of  the  rich  dominions  of  king 
Calos,  supposed  to  lie  in  that  quarter.  Ere  they  had  proceeded 
far,  however,  the  Spaniards  were  assailed  by  the  warlike  natives, 
who,  from  the  thick  matting  of  shrubs  and  vines  covering  those 
regions,  showered  their  arrows  upon  the  invaders,  and  soon 
forced  them  to  retreat  to  their  vessels.  In  this  conflict,  Ponce  de 
Leon  received  several  wounds,  which  were  so  serious,  that  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  carry  him  to  Cuba ;  and  there  he  soon  after 
died,  leaving  his  name  engraven  on  the  great  continent  of 
America,  in  characters  which  will  survive  the  monuments  of  the 
mightiest  monarchs  of  his  day.*  One  of  his  vessels,  on  her  re 
turn,  was  driven,  or  more  probably  carried  intentionally  across 
the  gulf  to  Vera  Cruz,  where  her  men  deserted  her  and  entered 
the  service  of  Cortes,  whom  they  aided  in  the  completion  of  his 
conquest. 

Cortes  during  the  progress  of  his  expedition,  employed 
every  means  to  obtain  a  confirmation  of  the  powTers  assumed  by 
him;  with  which  object  he  had  despatched  to  the  emperor  from 
time  to  time,  letters  detailing  the  occurrences  of  his  enterprise, 
accompanied  by  remittances  of  gold,  and  presents  to  many  influ 
ential  persons.  But  Charles  V.  was  then  in  Germany,  and  his 
attention  was  engrossed  by  his  efforts  to  put  down  heresy  in  that 
country,  and  to  establish  his  supremacy  in  northern  Italy,  where 

*  The  following  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  the  discoverer  of  Florida — 

Mole  sub  hac  fortis  requiescant  ossa  Leonis, 
Qui  vicit  factis  nomina  magna  suis. 

is  somewhat  more  elegant,  but  not  less  bombastic,  than  that  which  was  placed  a 
century  later,  over  the  remains  of  a  much  better  man — Captain  John  Smith,  the 
hero  of  the  settlement  of  Virginia— beginning. 

Here  lies  one  conquered,  that  hath  conquered  kings, 


1522.]  CORTES    SUPERSEDED    BY    TAPIA.  67 

it  was  fiercely  contested  by  his  rival  Francis  I.  of  France ;  so 
that  Cardinal  Fonseca  was  left  at  liberty  to  pursue  his  course  of 
enmity  to  Cortes,  and  of  favor  to  Velazquez  and  his  other  adhe 
rents  and  dependants.  The  Admiral  Colon,  w^ho  had  returned 
to  the  West  Indies,  endeavored  to  obtain  the  viceroy alty  of  New 
Spain,  in  exchange  for  his  actual  government ;  but  his  suit  was 
denied,  and  Cortes  was  summoned,  in  the  spring  of  1522,  to  re 
ceive  with  due  honor,  one  Christoval  de  Tapia,  formerly  an 
inspector  of  the  revenue  in  Hispaniola,  who  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz 
with  a  commission  as  Captain  General,  to  supersede  him  in  the 
government  of  the  territories  added,  by  his  valor  and  skill,  to  the 
dominions  of  their  master.  Cortes  was,  however,  not  to  be  so 
easily  stripped  of  the  fruits  of  his  toils :  there  was  in  his  disposi 
tion,  as  much  of  the  fox  as  of  the  lion,  and  in  that  age  of  uni 
versal  deceit  and  faithlessness,  no  one  was  more  profoundly 
versed  than  he  in  all  the  arts  of  falsehood  and  dissimulation. 
The  new  governor  was  received  with  every  mark  of  respect;  but 
he  was  immediately  engaged  in  a  discussion  as  to  the  extent  of 
his  powers,  during  which  his  weak  mind  became  so  distracted 
by  doubts  and  apprehensions  of  violence  and  treachery,  that  he 
was  soon  glad  to  relinquish  his  perilous  dignity,  and  quit  the 
country.  About  the  same  time  the  emperor  returned  to  Spain, 
and  the  agents  of  Cortes  having  obtained  a  hearing,  succeeded 
in  establishing  the  claims  of  their  chief,  who  was  accordingly 
appointed  Governor  and  Captain  General  of  New  Spain,  while 
Fonseca  and  Velazquez  were  both  disgraced  and  deprived  of  all 
their  powers  and  honors. 

Scarcely  had  Cortes  received  his  commission  as  Captain  Gen 
eral  of  Mexico,  than  he  was  called  to  repel  an  invasion  of  his 
rights  on  the  part  of  another  rival.  Francisco  de  Garay,  the 
governor  of  Jamaica,  had,  in  1521,  obtained,  through  the  influ 
ence  of  Fonseca,  a  patent  of  Adelantado,  empowering  him  to 
possess  the  country  discovered  by  his  officer  Pineda,  in  1519, 
and  especially  the  portion  called  Amichel,  by  the  natives,  extend 
ing  northward  from  the  Panuco  river,  the  limits  of  which,  on  the 
side  of  New  Spain,  were  to  be  determined  by  Christoval  de  Tapia, 
the  Captain  General,  appointed  at  the  same  time.  With  this 
object  Garay  equipped  a  squadron  of  eleven  vessels,  carrying 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards,  and  a  number  of  Indians,  well 


68  EXPEDITION    OF    GARAY    TO    PANUCO.  [1523. 

provided  with  horses,  artillery,  and  all  other  materials  for  con 
quest  and  occupation ;  and  in  order  to  lose  no  time,  he  took  with 
him  the  plan  of  a  city,*  to  be  called  Garaia,  which  might  be  im 
mediately  located  at  any  convenient  spot,  and  for  which  all  the 
municipal  officers  were  appointed  before  leaving  Jamaica.  With 
this  large  armament,  Garay  departed  from  his  island  on  the  26th 
of  June,  1523.  At  a  port  in  Cuba,  where  he  stopped,  news  was 
received  that  Cortes  had  already  formed  a  settlement  called  San 
Estevan,  on  the  Panuco,  and  had  attached  the  contiguous  coun 
try  to  New  Spain,  agreeably  to  authority  from  the  emperor; 
Garay,  however,  persevered  in  his  course,  except,  that  instead  of 
proceeding  directly  to  Panuco,  he  sailed  for  the  mouth  of  the 
River  of  Palms,  also  discovered  by  Pineda,  farther  north,  at  the 
entrance  of  which  he  anchored  on  the  25th  of  July.  Up  this  river 
an  officer  was  sent,  with  one  of  the  vessels,  to  explore ;  but  he 
returned  after  going  fifteen  leagues,  with  the  report  that  all  was 
desert  and  barren:  and  the  governor  thereupon,  determined  to 
march  with  the  greater  part  of  his  forces  to  Panuco,  where  the 
ships  under  Grijalva,  who  conducted  the  navigation,  should  join 
him  with  the  remainder. 

The  old  Spanish  historians  represent  the  River  of  Palms  as  en 
tering  the  Mexican  Gulf  under  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  about  thirty 
leagues  north  of  the  Panuco,  according  to  which,  it  would  be  the 
same  now  called  the  Santander:  though  the  fact  that  the  River  of 
Palms  seems  to  have  been  always  considered  as  the  largest  stream 
in  that  quarter,  rather  favors  the  supposition  of  its  identity  with 
the  Rio  Bravo  or  Rio  Grande,  falling  into  the  Gulf,  thirty  leagues 
farther  north,  under  the  26th  degree  of  latitude.  This  latter 
opinion  is  also  supported  by  the  accounts  of  the  length  of  time 
employed  by  Garay  and  his  men  on  their  march  to  Panuco,  in 
which  it  is  expressly  stated,  that  he  crossed  two  rivers,  one  of 
them  so  large  and  rapid  in  its  current,  that  eighty  horses  were 
drowned  in  it;  whereas  there  is  no  stream  meriting  the  name  of 
a  river,  in  the  whole  distance  between  the  Santander  and  the 
Panuco.  The  march  was  most  distressing  to  the  Spaniards, 
who  suffered  dreadfully  from  hunger  and  thirst,  from  the  difficul 
ties  occasioned  by  mountains,  marshes,  lagoons,  impenetrable 
thickets  interwoven  with  vines,  and  above  all,  from  the  torment 
*  "  He  founded  a  city  in  the  air,"  says  Herrera. 


1523.]         MAGELLAN    CIRCUMNAVIGATES     THE    EARTH.  69 

of  venomous  reptiles  and  insects,  the  poisonous  bites  of  which 
caused  many  deaths,  and  intolerable  annoyance  to  all;*  and  when 
at  length  they  reached  the  bank  of  the  Panuco,  they  found  a 
strong  body  of  troops  drawn  up  on  the  other  side,  under  one 
of  the  officers  of  Cortes,  who  exhibited  a  royal  order,  forbidding 
them  from  trespassing  upon  that  territory.  The  majority  of 
Garay's  officers  and  men  immediately  quitted  his  service,  in 
which  they  were  imitated  by  the  captains  and  crews  of  several 
of  his  vessels  on  their  arrival;  and  he  was,  himself,  soon,  re 
duced  to  the  necessity  of  accepting  an  invitation  from  Cortes,  to 
proceed  to  Mexico,  in  order  that  they  should  treat  upon  their 
pretensions  in  personal  conference.  The  conqueror  received  his 
rival  at  the  capital,  with  great  respect,  and  a  compromise  was 
made  between  them :  but  ere  any  part  of  it  could  be  carried  into 
effect,  Garay  died  suddenly  on  Christmas  day;  and  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years  afterwards,  no  attempt  was  made  by  the 
Spaniards,  to  extend  their  settlements  in  the  country  adjacent  to 
the  western  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  northward  of  Panuco. 

In  the  meantime,  Magellan  had  made  his  celebrated  voyage 
from  the  Atlantic,  through  the  strait  now  bearing  his  name,  into 
the  South  Sea,  afterwards  called  the  Pacific,  and  thence  north 
westward  across  the  latter  ocean,  to  the  East  Indies,  where  he 
met  his  death.  The  survivors  of  his  crew  returned  to  Europe  in 
1523;  but  the  accounts  brought  by  them  were  fatal  to  the  expec 
tations  entertained  by  the  Spaniards  of  conducting  the  intercourse 
between  their  country  and  India  through  this  new  route,  which 
was  twice  as  long  as  that  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  ex 
clusively  secured  to  Portugal  by  the  Treaty  of  Partition,  and  in 
finitely  more  difficult  and  dangerous.  In  compensation  for  this 
disappointment,  the  countries  brought  under  the  dominion  of 
Spain  by  Cortes,  to  which  the  general  name  of  Mexico  was  com 
monly  applied,  were  not  only  extensive,  fertile,  agreeable,  and 
rich  in  precious  metals,  but  were  moreover  inhabited  by  a  large 
population,  accustomed  to  labor,  who  might  be  compelled  to 

*  In  a  letter  from  one  of  this  party,  quoted  by  Peter  Martyr  in  his  8th  Dacade, 
the  -writer  says: — "We  came  to  the  land  of  misery,  where  no  order,  but  ever 
lasting  toil  and  all  calamities  dwell ;  where  famine,  heat,  poisonous  mosquitos, 
noisome  worms  and  flies,  persecuting  bats,  arrows,  entangling  thickets,  devour 
ing  quicksands,  and  muddy  lakes,  conspired  to  afilict  us." 


"70  SEARCH    FOR    NEW    ROUTES    TO    INDIA.  [1523. 

exert  themselves  for  the  advantage  of  their  conquerors,  in  agricul 
ture,  mining,  or  the  mechanical  arts.  From  the  comparative 
vicinity  of  these  countries  to  Europe,  they  might  be  rendered 
more  important  to  Spain  even  than  India ;  and  other  empires 
equally  large,  rich,  well  peopled,  and  conveniently  situated,  might 
be  discovered,  in  the  interior  of  the  vast  continent  west  of  the 
Atlantic.  All  these  advantages  were  fully  appreciated  by  Cortes, 
who  exerted  every  means  in  his  power,  to  explore  and  reduce  to 
submission  the  more  distant  regions  of  New  Spain ;  while  Fran 
cisco  Pizarro  and  Diego  de  Almagro  were  engaged  in  preparing 
for  their  first  expedition,  in  search  of  the  golden  lands,  which 
they  believed,  from  the  reports  of  the  natives  at  Panama,  to  lie 
south-west  of  that  isthmus. 

The  expectation  of  deriving  advantage  from  a  western  route  to 
India,  was  however  not  abandoned  in  Europe.  It  was  certain, 
from  the  examinations  made  by  Magellan  and  those  who  preceded 
him  on  the  eastern  coasts  of  the  New  World,  that  the  Atlantic  and 
the  Pacific  were  not  connected  at  any  point,  between  the  52d  de 
gree  of  south  latitude,  in  which  Magellan's  Strait  was  situated, 
and  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  ;  and  Cortes  soon  after  the  completion 
of  the  conquest  of  New  Spain,  assured  himself  that  no  passage 
existed  through  that  country,  or  any  other,  between  Darien  and 
Florida.  Such  a  channel  might,  however,  still  be  found  farther 
north,  nearly  in  the  direct  line  between  Europe  and  India,  which 
would  afford  a  route  preferable  in  many,  if  not  in  all  respects,  to 
that  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  and  in  the  expeditions  made 
with  this  object,  as  well  as  in  search  of  rich  countries,  the  coasts 
of  the  northern  continent  on  both  seas  and  large  portions  of  the 
interior  were  first  explored. 

The  emperor  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.  king  of  France,  had  by 
this  time  become  fairly  engaged  in  their  struggle  for  the  dominion 
of  the  European  continent;  Henry  VIII.  of  England  preserved  a 
wise  neutrality,  alternately  favoring  each  of  the  rivals,  as  he 
deemed  it  necessary  to  maintain  the  balance  between  them.  Italy 
and  Flanders  -were  the  principal  theatres  on  which  their  contest 
was  carried  on ;  but  Francis  was  determined  also  to  have  his 
share  of  the  navigation  and  commerce  of  the  ocean,  and  of  the 
territories  of  the  New  World,  in  defiance  of  the  Papal  Bull  and 
the  Treaty  of  Partition :  and  as  a  first  measure  for  this  purpose,  he 


1524.]  VOYAGE  OF  VERRAZZANO.  71 

despatched  Giovanni  Verrazzano,  a  Florentine  navigator,  with 
four  ships,  in  the  beginning  of  1524,  to  examine  the  western 
coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  in  search  of  passages  to  the  Pacific,  or  of 
countries  worthy  of  being  conquered  or  settled  by  the  French, 
while  he  himself  led  a  large  army  across  the  Alps  into  the 
Milanese. 

According  to  Verrazzano's  report  of  his  voyage,*  he  first  saw 
the  coast  of  the  New  World  on  the  20th  of  March,  1524;  and 
having  run  along  it  southward  arid  northward  for  a  few  days,  he 
landed  in  the  34th  degree  of  latitude,  where  he  found  a  low  sandy 
shore,  intersected  by  many  inlets,  beyond  which  were  broad 
plains,  and  extensive-  forests,  all  corresponding  exactly  with  the 
part  of  North  Carolina,  near  Cape  Fear.  Thence  he  sailed  fifty 
leagues  north-eastward,  and  again  landed,  probably  near  the  en 
trance  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  he  met  several  parties  of  na 
tives,  whose  canoes  and  hunting  and  fishing  implements,  as  de 
scribed  in  his  report,  were  precisely  similar  to  those  seen  in  that 
quarter,  by  the  English  sixty  years  later.  A  hundred  leagues 
farther  north,  he  reached  an  agreeable  place,  in  the  form  of  a  bay 
or  lake,  among  steep  hills,  into  which  a  large  river  discharged 
itself;  leaving  this  spot  with  great  regret,  he  continued  his  voy 
age  along  the  coast  to  the  east,  fifty  leagues,  and  thence  north, 
twenty-five  leagues,  passing  a  large  island  in  his  way,  until  he  at 
length  entered  an  excellent  harbor,  in  latitude  of  41  degrees  40 
minutes,  where  he  remained  some  time,  engaged  in  repairing  his 
vessels.  This  harbor  is  universally  admitted  to  be  Newport  in 
Rhode  Island ;  and  it  appears  no  less  probable,  that  the  large 
river  discharging  its  waters,  in  a  bay  surrounded  by  hills,  was 

*  A  translation  of  a  part  of  this  report  was  published  by  Hakluyt,  in  the  third 
volume  of  his  Collection.  A  manuscript  of  the  original  in  Italian,  is  preserved 
in  the  Magliabecch^an  Library,  at  Florence,  from  which  a  copy  made  by  G.  W. 
Greene,  Consul  of  the  United  States  at  Rome,  may  be  found  in  the  first  volume 
of  the  second  series  of  the  transactions  of  the  New  York  Historical^  Society,  ac 
companied  by  a  translation  by  J.  G.  Cogswell,  Esq.  The  report  is  dated  on 
board  of  the  ship  le  Dauphin  at  Dieppe,  July  8,  1524 ;  in  it  Verrazzano  declares 
his  object  in  the  voyage  to  have  been  to  reach  Cathay  or  China  by  a  western 
route.  Mr.  R.  Biddle,  in  his  curious  memoir  of  Sebastian  Cabot  already  men 
tioned,  with  his  usual  facility  in  drawing  conclusions  from  slender  premises,  sup 
poses  Verrazzano  to  have  been  engaged  in  his  second  voyage,  in  the  service  of 
England,  as  the  pilot  of  the  Mary  of  Guildford. 


72  SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    AYLLON.  [1526. 

the  Hudson.*  Having  completed  his  repairs,  Verrazzano  put  to 
sea  again  on  the  5th  of  May,  and  traced  the  coast  to  the  51st 
degree,  in  which  the  northern  part  of  Newfoundland  is  situated  ; 
and  thence  he  struck  directly  across  the  Atlantic  to  France. 

The  report  of  Verrazzano's  voyage,  contains  the  earliest  ac 
counts  known  to  exist,  of  the  portion  of  the  American  continent, 
between  the  34th  and  50th  degrees  of  latitude;  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe,  that  those  countries  had  ever  been  seen  by 
Europeans,  unless  the  southernmost  may  have  been  discovered 
by  Vazquez  de  Ayllon  in  1520,  and  the  northernmost  by  John 
and  Sebastian  Cabot  in  1497,  which  is  very  improbable  in  either 
case.  Verrazzano  is  said  to  have  left  FrUnce  in  the  following 
year,  on  another  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  from  which  he  never 
returned.  In  this  latter  year,  1525,  the  forces  of  that  nation  were 
overthrown  by  those  of  Charles  V.  at  Pavia;  and  Francis  I.  fell 
into  the  hands  of  his  rival,  who  kept  him  for  some  time  in  close 
captivity  at  Madrid.  The  cares  and  expenses  consequent  upon 
this  misfortune,  and  those  occasioned  by  the  wars  and  intestine 
troubles  which  ensued,  prevented  the  French  from  making  farther 
attempts  to  discover  or  settle  in  the  New  World  for  ten  years  ; 
whilst  the  dominion  of  Spain  was  constantly  taking  deeper  root 
in  that  quarter. 

Two  years  after  the  voyage  of  Verrazzano,  the  earliest  attempt 
was  made  by  Europeans  to  settle  the  countries  north  of  the  Mexi 
can  Gulf.  Lucas  Vazquez  de  Ayllon  who,  as  already  related, 
visited  the  coasts  on  the  Atlantic  about  the  34th  degree  of  lati 
tude  in  1520,  in  search  of  slaves,  was  induced  by  one  of  the  na 
tives  thus  brought  away  by  him,  to  believe,  that  a  part  of  the 
continent  in  that  vicinity,  called  Orista  or  Chicora,  abounded  in 
gold  and  pearls;  and  he  in  consequence  proceeded  to  Spain, 
where  he  in  1523,  obtained  from  the  emperor  a  commission  to 
conquer,  settle  and  possess  the  whole  region  extending  on  the 
ocean,  between  the  35th  arid  37th  parallels,  on  the  usual  terms, 
except  that  the  natives  were,  in  no  case,  to  be  enslaved,  or  forced 
to  labor  against  their  will,  or  treated  in  any  way  otherwise,  than 

*The  learned  and  exact  Diedrich  Knickerbocker,  in  his  History  of  New  York, 
which  will,  or  should,  live  as  long  as  the  Hudson  flows,  nevertheless  declares, 
that  Verrazzano's  description  of  the  place  thus  visited  by  him,  corresponds  no 
more  with  the  mouth  of  that  river,  than  with  his — the  historian's — nightcap! 


1526.]   EFFORTS   OF   LAS   CASAS   IN  BEHALF   OF  THE   INDIANS.    73 

as  free  subjects  of  his  majesty;  and  that  every  gentle   means 
should  be  used  to  civilize  and  convert  them  to  the  Christian  faith. 

These  last  provisions  could  scarcely  have  been  acceptable  to 
Ayllon.  The  emperor  had,  however,  been  induced,  chiefly  by 
the  energetic  remonstrances  of  the  justly  celebrated  Father  Bar- 
tolome  de  las  Casas — the  best  man  ever  sent  from  Spain  to  the 
New  World — to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  aborigines  of  his  Indian 
dominions ;  and  though  all  his  efforts  for  their  protection,  in  the 
countries  already  occupied  by  Spaniards,  had  proved  vain,  he 
resolved  that  they  should  enjoy  their  entire  liberty  in  those  which 
might  be  settled  in  future.  The  efforts  of  the  emperor  had  con 
siderably  checked  the  practice  of  transporting  the  Indians  from 
one  country  to  another;  but  this  served  to  raise  the  price  of  the 
slaves  in  the  islands,  where  they  were  chiefly  used,  and  in  con 
sequence  to  increase  their  toils,  by  which  means  their  numbers 
were  rapidly  diminishing:  and  as  laborers  other  than  Spaniards, 
were  indispensable  for  the  maintenance  of  those  colonies,  en 
couragement  had  been  given,  with  *the  reluctant  assent  of  Las 
Casas,  to  introduce  negroes  from  Africa,  who  were  found  per 
fectly  adapted  for  the  services  required  from  them.  Special 
permission  was  still  often  granted  to  enslave,  the  Indians,  in 
countries  where  they  ate  human  flesh,  or  pertinaciously  resisted 
the  attempts  to  christianise  them;  and  the  facility  with  which 
charges  of  this  kind  might  be  substantiated,  was  sufficient  to 
neutralise,  in  a  great  degree,  the  effect  of  +he  humane  prohibi 
tions  of  the  general  laws.  In  Mexico  those  laws  were  utterly 
unavailing ;  and  but  for  the  stronger  measures  adopted  at  a  later 
period,  the  aborigines  must  have  been  soon  exterminated  there, 
as  in  the  islands,  by  the  cruel  and  oppressive  treatment  of  the 
conquerors,  after  their  possession  had  been  fully  assured. 

Ayllon  was  bound  by  the  terms  of  his  capitulation,  to  begin 
his  enterprise  in  the  following  year,  1524;  but  he  was  unable  to 
do  so,  in  consequence  of  which,  the  Council  of  the  Indies  was 
about  to  prosecute  him  for  a  breach  of  contract.  He,  however, 
obtained  a  prolongation  of  the  period,  and  at  length  in  July, 
1526,  sailed  from  Hispaniola  for  Chicora,  with  six:  ships,  car 
rying  five  hundred  men,  a  large  number  of  horses,  and  abundant 
supplies  of  arms,  ammunition  and  provisions.  After  a  long 
voyage,  the  squadron  reached  the  Jordan,  which  was  determined 
10 


74       FIRST  SETTLEMENT  NORTH  OF  THE  MEXICAN  GULF.     [1526. 

by  observation,  to  be  in  latitude  of  33  degrees  40  minutes,  cor 
responding  very  nearly  with  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  river;  but 
on  attempting  to  enter,  the  largest  ship  struck  on  the  bar,  and 
went  to  pieces.  The  country  was  then  explored  to  some  distance 
in  the  interior,  and  along  the  coast  towards  the  north ;  and  a  spot 
was  thus  found,  fifty  leagues  beyond  the  Jordan,  where  the  peo 
ple  were  landed,  and  a  settlement,  called  San  Miguel  de  Gual- 
dape,  was  begun.  Ayllon  had  already  been  undeceived,  with 
regard  to  the  supposed  riches  of  the  country ;  no  signs  of  precious 
metals  were  seen,  and  the  oysters,  though  excellent  as  food, 
yielded  no  pearls.  The  natives,  moreover,  soon  began  to  harrass 
the  settlers,  and  as  the  autumn  advanced,  fevers  broke  out  among 
them,  which  soon  carried  off  a  large  number,  including  the  head 
of  the  enterprise.  Dissensions  then  arose  as  to  the  right  of  com 
manding,  which  led  to  combats,  murders  and  executions;  and 
when  at  length  it  was  resolved  that  the  settlement  should  be 
abandoned,  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  survived,  of  the  five  hun 
dred  who  had  landed  there  a*few  months  previous.* 

Thus  ended  the  first  attempt  to  establish  a  European  colony  in 
the  division  of  the  New  World,  now  forming  the  Republic  of 
the  United  States.  Of  its  position,  no  exact  information  is  given 
in  the  accounts  of  the  expedition ;  but  it  was  probably  near  Cape 
Lookout,  in  North  Carolina,  perhaps  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by 
the  town  of  Beaufort. 

The  West  Indies,  and  especially  Mexico,  were,  meanwhile,  the 
scenes  of  continual  violence  and  treachery.  The  successes 
of  Cortes  and  his  followers,  had  brought  to  those  countries 
crowds  of  adventurers  from  Spain,  for  the  most  part  men  of  des 
perate  character,  ready  for  any  enterprise,  ho\vever  lawless  or 
dangerous,  which  promised  gold  or  renown.  Some  of  these 
uniting  in  bands  under  leaders  bearing  commissions,  penetrated 
the  continent  in  various  directions  in  quest  of  plunder;  while 
others  more  fortunate,  obtained  grants  of  lands,  with  assignments 
of  Indians,  whom  they  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  labors  and 
privations,  in  defiance  of  all  laws  for  the  protection* of  those  peo 
ple.  By  this  oppression,  the  natives  were  naturally  driven  to 

*  The  account  given  by  Navarrete  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Collection,  page 
72,  has  been  here  followed  exclusively;  being  much  more  full  and  reasonable 
than  those  of  the  old  historians. 


1525.]  CORTES  AGAIN  SUPERSEDED.  75 

retaliations  and  insurrections,  which  were  in  all  cases  fearfully 
avenged  by  their  powerful  masters ;  and  the  Spaniards  being, 
moreover,  in  many  parts,  at  war  with  each  other,  the  destruction 
of  human  life  from  all  these  causes,  was  incalculably  great. 

Cortes  had  found  his  appointment  as  Captain  General  of  New 
Spain,  only  the  commencement  of  his  troubles.  -  Charles  V.  was 
too  sagacious  and  too  suspicious,  to  leave  such  a  man  unre 
strained,  at  the  head  of  such  a  country  as  Mexico  might  be  ren 
dered  by  him ;  and  the  conqueror  was  accordingly  beset  on  all 
sides  by  rivals  and  enemies  with  powers  to  annoy  him,  while 
every  ship  from  Spain  brought  some  new  ordinance  curtailing  his 
privileges.  He,  nevertheless,  continued  the  prosecution  of  his 
plans  for  reducing  the  country  to  submission,  and  civilizing  and 
converting  its  inhabitants,  as  well  as  for  exploring  the  adjoining 
regions,  until  1525,  when  he  was  superseded  in  his  governorship, 
and  obliged  to  spend  the  .following  three  years  in  retirement. 

The  emperor  had,  within  that  period,  granted  many  commis 
sions  for  discovery  and  conquest  in  the  New  World,  under  one 
of  which,  Francisco  Pizarro  was  engaged  on  his  second  expedi 
tion,  in  search  of  the  rich  countries  south-east  of  Panama,  sup 
posed  by  him  to  bear  the  name  of  Peru ;  while  Pedro  de  Alvarado, 
was  establishing  his  authority  in  Guatemala,  under  a  similar 
patent,  and  Francisco  de  Montejo  as  Adelantado  of  Yucatan, 
was  ravaging  that  peninsula,  and  defacing  its  wonderful  monu 
ments.  A  patent  had  been  also  conceded  by  Charles  V.  for  the 
subjugation  and  settlement  of  the  territories  north  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  and  an  expedition  was  in  progress  with  that  object,  the 
particulars  of  which  will  be  related  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER    III 


1  526    TO     1  544. 


DISCOVERY    or   THE    INTERIOR   OF    FLORIDA    BY  THE    SPAN 
IARDS — EXPEDITIONS  OF  PANFILO  DE  NARVAEZ  AND   HER- 

NANDO      DE       SOTO DISCOVERY      OF      THE      RlVER      OF      ST. 

LAWRENCE  BY  THE  FRENCH  UNDER  CARTIER. 

THE  attempt  made  by  Panfilo  de  Narvaez  in  1520,  to  deprive 
Cortes  of  the  command  of  the  expedition  for  the  conquest  of 
Mexico,  and  its  signal  defeat  by  the  latter,  have  been  already 
mentioned.  Narvaez  lost  an  eye  on  that  occasion,  and  was  kept 
in  close  confinement  in  Mexico  by  his  successful  rival,  for  three 
years ;  at  the  end  of  which  he  was  liberated,  through  the  inter 
cession  of  Garay,  and  allowed  to  proceed  to  Spain.  There  he 
joined  the  enemies  of  Cortes  in  their  intrigues,  which  led  to  the 
removal  of  the  conqueror  from  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  to 
the  many  annoyances  consequent  upon  it;  and  as  a  recompense 
for  these  exertions,  Narvaez  obtained  in  1526  a  commission  as 
Adelantado  of  Florida,  together  with  the  means  of  equipping  an 
armament  for  the  conquest  and  occupation  of  that  country. 

The  patent  granted  to  Narvaez  embraced  the  whole  region 
bordering  upon  the  northern  sides  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  from 
the  River  of  Palms,  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Province  of 
Panuco,  northward  and  eastward,  to  the  Atlantic,  including  the 
peninsula  of  Florida;  all  of  which  he  was  to  subdue,  settle,  pos 
sess  and  govern,  and  to  transmit  the  possession  and  government 
to  his  descendants,  on  condition  of  yielding  to  the  crown  a  cer 
tain  proportion  of  the  precious  metals,  and  revenues,  derivable 
from  them,  and  of  using  every  means  to  convert  the  natives  to 
the  Catholic  faith.  Notwithstanding  the  discoveries  of  Magellan 


1528.]  EXPEDITION    OF    NARVAEZ    TO    FLORIDA.  77* 

and  others,  showing  the  great  breadth  of  the  Pacific,  the  Mexican 
Gulf  was  still  supposed  to  be  bordered  on  the  north-west  by 
China;  and  Narvaez  probably  expected  to  reach  the  northern  part 
of  that  Empire,  where  some  of  the  largest  and  richest  cities  in 
the  world  had  been  seen  by  Marco  Polo.*  Yet  on  the  other  hand, 
he  could  scarcely  have  supposed,  that  those  places  could  be 
subdued,  or  even  plundered  by  the  small  forces  which  he  should 
be  able  to  carry  with  him  in  his  expedition. 

Under  this  commission  Panfilo  de  Narvaez  sailed  from  Ca 
diz  in  June,  1527,  with  six  ships  and  six  hundred  men  for 
Hispaniola,  in  which  island  and  in  Cuba  he  was  detained  until 
the  spring  of  the  following  year.  This  delay  caused  him  to  lose 
a  number  of  his  men  by  death  or  desertion ;  but  he  was  not  dis 
heartened,  and  taking  his  departure  from  Cuba  in  the  beginning 
of  March,  1528,  he  on  Good-Friday,  the  13th  of  that  month, 
anchored  in  a  bay  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  peninsula  of 
Florida,  to  which  the  name  of  Santa  Cruz, — the  Holy  Cross, — 
was  given,  in  respectful  commemoration  of  the  day.  This  bay 
was  entered,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  Diego  de  Miruelo,  the 
pilot,  wrho  had  accompanied  Ponce  de  Leon  and  Garay  in  their 
expeditions,  and  who  recommended  another  and  much  better 
harbor,  discovered  by  himself,  farther  north.  The  Adelantado, 
however,-  having  received  from  the  Indians  accounts  of  a  rich 
and  populous  kingdom  called  Apalache,  situated  in  the  interior, 
at  some  distance  uncertain,  could  not  restrain  his  impatience; 
and  he  immediately  landed  with  three  hundred  and  forty  men, 
and  forty  horses,  on  the  shore  of  the  bay.  Some  of  his  vessels 
were  then  despatched  to  Cuba,  whilst  the  others  were  ordered  to 
proceed  along  the  coast  northward  to  the  Bay  of  Miruelo;  and 
having  made  these  dispositions  he  departed  with  the  troops  in 
search  of  Apalache,  on  the  first  of  May. 

The  Bay  of  Santa  Cruz  was  most  probably  the  same,  now 
called  Charlotte  Harbor,  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  peninsula, 
near  the  27th  degree  of  latitude:  on  the  day  after  leaving  it, 

*  See  the  map  of  the  world,  attached  to  the  historical  and  geographical  col 
lection,  entitled  "Novus  Orbis,"  by  Simon  Grynseus,  published  in  1532,  in 
which  Tenochtitlan  or  Mexico,  is  placed  in  the  south-east  part  of  Cathay  or 
China,  about  five  hundred  miles  due  south  of  Cambalu  or  Pekin,  and  the  latter 
city  stands  near  the  head  waters  of  the  Panuco  river. 


78         DISCOVERY  OF  CALIFORNIA  BY  CORTES.      [1528. 

Narvaez  reached  another  and  larger  bay,  which  if  the  former 
supposition  be  correct,  would  be  the  Bay  of  Tampa;  and  from 
this  latter  place,  were  sent  the  last  communications,  received 
from  the  Adelantado,  by  the  vessels  before  their  departure.  Of 
these  vessels,  one  was  soon  lost;  the  others  wandered  along  the 
coasts  for  some  months,  stopping  at  various  places,  in  hope  of 
meeting  with  their  commander,  and  his  troops,  until  they  were 
forced  by  want  of  provisions  to  return  to  Cuba.  In  the  follow 
ing  year  the  vessels  revisited  the  coast  with  no  more  success ; 
and  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  employed  by  the  wife  and 
family  of  Narvaez,  nothing  was  heard  of  him  or  of  any  of  those 
who  accompanied  him,  for  eight  years. 

In  the  meantime,  many  events  of  great  importance  had  occur 
red  in  the  New  World.  Cortes  wearied  with  the  annoyances  to 
which  he  was  continually  subjected  in  Mexico,  went  in  1528  to 
Spain,  where  his  appearance  excited  the  strongest  interest  among 
all  classes.  He  was  received  with  distinction  by  the  emperor, 
who  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Marquis  of  the  Valley  of  Oax- 
aca,  with  large  grants  of  lands  in  various  parts  of  Mexico,  be 
sides  confirming  him  in  the  government  of  that  kingdom;  in 
addition  to  which,  he  was  authorised  exclusively,  by  a  commis 
sion  of  Adelantado  and  Admiral  of  the  South  Sea,  to  discover, 
conquer  and  possess  on  the  usual  conditions,  any  new  countries 
west  of  those  already  under  his  jurisdiction.  Notwithstanding 
all  these  marks  of  favor,  Cortes  found  himself  on  returning  to 
Mexico,  in  1530,  nearly  without  power,  in  consequence  of  the  ex 
tensive  privileges  artd  immunities  allowed  to  the  Audiencia  or 
High  Court,  established  during  his  absence,  and  composed  for 
the  most  part  of  persons  inimical  to  him,  without  whose  assent 
he  could  undertake  nothing;  and  he  was  in  fact  obliged  to  make 
actual  war  on  this  body,  and  to  expel  its  president,  Nufio  de 
Guzman,  before  he  could  establish  himself  in  the  capital.* 

As  soon  as  he  had  resumed  his  authority  in  Mexico,  Cortes 
in  virtue  of  his  powers  as  Admiral  of  the  South  Sea,  caused 
voyages  to  be  made  on  that  ocean,  the  coasts  of  which  were 
thus  .traced  north-westward  to  the  30th  degree  of  latitude,  the 
Peninsula  of  California  being  at  the  same  time  discovered.  This 
new  country  was  also,  as  Hispaniola  and  Florida  had  been,  con- 
*  Gomara  Cronica  de  la  Nueva  Espafia,  Chap.  186. 


1536.]         ARRIVAL    OF    CABEZA    DE    VACA    IN    MEXICO.  79 

sidered  identical  with  Japan;  and  the  conqueror  of  Mexico,  not 
choosing  to  trust  to  others  the  charge  of  exploring  and  subju 
gating  it,  sailed  thither  himself,  with  a  large  force  in  1535,  and 
spent  a  year  on  its  rocky  coasts  and  arid  mountains.  But  whilst 
thus  engaged,  he  learned  to  his  dismay  that  he  had  been  deprived 
of  all  his  authority  in  New  Spain,  by  the  arrival  of  Don  An 
tonio  de  Mendoza,  a  nobleman  of  high  rank  and  influence,  as 
Viceroy  of  that  kingdom;  and  he  was  afterwards  subjected 
to  innumerable  annoyances  from  legal  prosecutions,  which 
embittered  the  remaining  period  of  his  residence  in  the  New 
World.* 

Of  the  other  remarkable  occurrences  in  the  New  World,  during 
the  period  in  question,  it  will  be  sufficient  here  to  mention  the 
discovery  and  conquest  by  the  Spaniards,  under  Pizarro,  of  the 
great  and  rich  Empire  of  the  Incas,  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Southern  Continent,  to  which  the  name  of  Peru  was  applied,  as 
that  of  Mexico  had  been  to  the  regions  subjugated  by  Cortes, 
through  erroneous  interpretations  of  the  accounts  first  received 
from  the  natives.  In  Europe,  the  rivalry  between  Charles  V. 
and  Francis  I.  led  to  many  bloody  battles;  but  these  were  all 
thrown  into  the  shade,  by  the  grand  events  of  the  divorce  of 
Henry  VIII.  of  England  from  his  Queen  Catherine,  the  aunt  of 
the  emperor,  and  his  marriage  with  Anne  Bolen,  which  gave  so 
much  strength  and  encouragement  to  the  cause  of  religious  re 
form,  then  in  progress  under  the  direction  of  Luther  and  Calvin. 

Soon  after  the  entrance  of  the  Viceroy  Mendoza  into  Mexico, 
in  the  spring  of  1536,  four  naked  wild  looking  men  arrived  at 
the  towTn  of  Culiacan,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Californian  Gulf, 
where  a  Spanish  settlement  had  been  recently  formed,  and  an 
nounced  themselves  the  survivors  of  the  party,  who  had  invaded 
Florida  in  1528,  under  Panfilo  de  Narvaez.  They  were,  Alvaro 
Nunez  de  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  the  Treasurer  and  Chief  Alguazil, 
Captains  Andrea  Dorantes  and  Alonzo  del  Castillo,  and  Este- 
vanico,  a  negro :  after  a  few  weeks  passed  at  Culiacan,  they 
were  sent  on  to  Mexico,  where  their  adventures  were  related  to 
the  Viceroy ;  and  Cabeza  de  Vaca  then  proceeded  to  Spain,  and 
presented  to  the  emperor  a  narrative  of  his  travels  and  sufferings, 

*  Particular  accounts  of  these  voyages  will  be  found  in  the  first  chapter  of  the 
History  of  Oregon  and  California,  by  the  author  of  this  work. 


8J  NARRATIVE    OF    THE    EXPEDITION    OF    NARVAEZ.      [1528 

from  which  is  derived  all  that  is  known  of  the  movements  and 
fate  of  Narvaez  and  his  followers,  subsequent  to  their  departure 
from  the  Bay  of  Santa  Cruz,  in  May,  1528.  In  accounts  like 
these,  founded  entirely  on  the  recollections  of  persons  who  had 
been  exposed,  as  will  be  shown,  for  nine  years,  to  the  most 
dreadful  hardships  and  dangers,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  ex 
pect  accuracy  of  detail,  on  any  points,  not  immediately  affecting 
the  person  of  the  narrator;  Cabeza  de  Vaca  seems,  however,  to 
have  always  spoken  the  truth,  with  regard  to  matters  of  which 
he  was  himself  a  witness ;  and  though  but  one  spot  mentioned 
by  him  can  be  identified  with  certainty,  his  descriptions  are  suf 
ficiently  distinct  to  indicate  his  general  course  with  considerable 
approach  to  precision.* 

According  to  the  narrative  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  the  march  of 
Narvaez  and  his  followers  from  the  Bay  of  Santa  Cruz,  was,  from 
the  commencement,  attended  with  difficulties  and  perils.  The 
country,  as  correctly  described  by  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  is  flat  and 
sandy,  or  marshy,  covered  for  the  most  part  with  thick  woods, 
through  which  the  Spaniards  could  penetrate,  only  with  great 
labor;  and  they  were  moreover  obliged  frequently  to  construct 
rafts  or  bridges,  in  order  to  cross  the  ponds  and  rivers  which  lay 
in  their  way.  They  at  first  obtained  food  by  hunting;  but  their 
supplies  from  this  source  w^ere  precarious,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  depend  chiefly  on  the  fruit  of  the  cabbage-palm,  with  which 
the  southern  parts  of  the  peninsula  abound. 

Their  course  appears  to  have  been  northward,  at  a  short  dis 
tance  from  the  sea,  which  was  visited  by  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  and  a 
few  men,  at  the  mouth  of  a  river,  probably  the  Suwannee,  or 
some  other  entering  the  north-east  angle  of  the  Mexican  Gulf. 
At  length,  in  the  middle  of  June,  they  crossed  a  very  large  river, 
which  seems  to  have  been  the  Apalachicola,  and  the  country 
beyond  it  was  found  to  be  the  long  desired  land  of  Apalache, 
where  they  expected  to  reap  the  fruits  of  their  toils  in  the  plunder 
of  rich  cities.  Only  a  few  wigwams  could  however  be  discov- 

*  "  Los  Naufragios  de  Cabeza  de  Vaca,"  &c. — first  published  at  Valladolid  in 
1554 ;  one  of  the  most  curious  of  the  early  accounts  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Spaniards  in  America.  Translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Buckingham  Smith, 
and  published,  for  private  circulation,  by  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Riggs,  Jr.,  of  Washing 
ton,  January,  1851,  since  the  above  was  written  by  Mr.  Greenhow.— ED. 


1528.]    THE    SPANIARDS    EMBARK    IN    BOATS    FOR    MEXICO.         81 

ered,  from  which  the  terrified  natives  fled  on  their  approach ;  and 
when  they  had  advanced  to  some  distance,  probably  as  far  as  the 
centre  of  the  present  State  of  Alabama,  it  was  determined  by 
unanimous  consent,  that  they  should  return  to  the  coast  and  seek 
their  vessels,  in  order  to  go  back  to  Cuba. 

Some  men  were  accordingly  sent  to  look  for  the  vessels,  under 
Cabeza  de  Vaca,  who  proceeding  southward  along  the  banks  of  a 
large  river,  named  by  them  the  Magdalena,  reached,  in  a  week, 
a  place  called  Aute;  and  thence  continuing  in  the  same  direction, 
they  soon  became  involved  in  a  labyrinth  of  creeks  and  inlets, 
communicating  with  an  extensive  arm  of  the  sea.  After  looking 
some  time  in  vain  for  the  vessels,  the  party  returned  to  Apalache; 
whereupon  Narvaez  determined  to  go  with  all  his  men,  to  one  of 
the  inlets  thus  discovered,  and  there  to  build  vessels  for  their 
conveyance  to  Mexico  or  Cuba.  The  whole  party  accordingly 
removed  to  the  shore  of  a  bay,  where  they  began  the  construc 
tion  of  vessels.  This  was  a  work  of  much  difficulty,  as  they  had 
only  one  carpenter  in  their  number,  and  no  iron  for  nails,  except 
their  stirrups,  and  such  portions  of  their  armor  as  they  could 
safely  dispense  with;  they,  however,  labored  diligently,  and  in 
the  end  of  September,  five  barques  or  large  boats  had  been  com 
pleted,  each  twenty-two  cubits  in  length,  which  were  considered 
sufficient  for  a  voyage  along  the  coast  of  Mexico.  These  barques 
were  made  of  sawn  planks,  coated  with  pitch  from  the  pine  trees : 
the  trunks  of  palmettoes  served  as  masts  ;  ropes  were  twisted  of 
horse  hair,  and  the  shirts  of  the  men  were  sewn  together  for  sails. 
Their  horses  wTere  killed  and  the  meat  was  dried  for  food  on  the 
voyage;  the  skins  of  the  legs  being  carefully  stripped  off,  to  be 
used  as  bags  or  bottles  for  fresh  water;  the  remainder  of  the 
provisions  consisted  of  Indian  corn,  which  was  to  be  parched 
from  time  to  time  as  it  might  be  required.  A  long  search  was 
made  for  stones  to  be  employed  as  ballast  and  anchors,  but  not 
one  could  be  found,  nor  had  one  been  seen  in  the  country. 

On  the  29th  of  September  their  preparations  being  completed, 
the  Spaniards  embarked,  two  hundred  and  forty-five  in  number, 
each  boat  carrying  forty-nine.  When  all  had  taken  their  places, 
the  vessels  sunk  nearly  to  the  edges  in  the  water;  and  nothing 
could  have  been  more  gloomy  and  unpromising  than  their  con 
dition  and  prospects,  as  they  floated  westward  through  the  bay, 
11 


82  SITUATION    OF    APALACHE.  [1528. 

to  which,  in  commemoration  of  the  slaughter  of  their  steeds,  they 
gave  the  name  of  Baia  de  Cavallos,  or  Horse  Bay. 

With  regard  to  the  places  here  mentioned,  the  accounts  of  the 
expedition  of  Narvaez,  and  of  others  soon  after  made  by  the 
Spaniards  through  the  same  countries,  as  well  as  the  maps  of  that 
period,  leave  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  Apalache,  or  the  land  of  the 
Apalaches,  was  the  south-east  division  of  the  present  State  of 
Alabama,  and  the  adjoining  portion  of  Florida,  immediately  con 
tiguous  to  the  Apalachicola  or  Chatta-hoochee* — Rock  river — on 
the  west.  At  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  beyond  which 
our  exact  knowledge  of  those  regions  or  their  inhabitants  does  not 
extend,  they  were  occupied  by  three  principal  tribes  of  the  great 
nation  or  confederacy  of  the  Muscoghees,  since  called  Creeks, 
namely — the  Coweeta,  the  Apalachoocla,  and  the  Uchee.f  The 
Apalachoocla  or  Apalachicola,  whose  name  has  been  given  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  river,  was  considered  as  the  oldest  tribe  of  the 
nation  ;  and  its  chief  town,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  twenty- 
five  miles  below  the  falls,  was  sacred  to  peace,  while  the  Coweeta 
town,  twelve  miles  farther  north,  was  dedicated  to  the  god  of  war. 
Oocla  or  Acoola  or  Agoola,  as  variously  pronounced  by  different 
tribes,  signified  a  Town  or  Tribe;  and  as  this  was  a  common  ter 
mination  of  the  names  of  towns  or  tribes  in  that  part  of  America, 
it  seems  most  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  the  Apalache  visited 
by  the  Spaniards  under  Narvaez  in  1528,  was  Apalach-oocla  the 
town,  or  tribe,  or  territory  of  the  Apalaches.  The  river  Magda- 
lena  was  most  probably  the  Chocta-hatchee — Chocta  river — which 
rises  in  the  country  of  the  Muscoghees,  and  empties  into  an  arm 
of  the  Mexican  Gulf  called  Chocta-hatchee  bay,  communicating 
on  the  west  with  the  Bay  of  Pensacola,  by  the  long  and  narrow 
sound  of  Santa  Rosa ;  and  this  bay  of  Chocta-hatchee  may  have 
been  the  Bayade  Cavallos,  on  which  the  Spaniards  embarked. 

From  the  place  of  embarcation,  the  Spaniards  pursued  their 
voyage  towards  the  west,  for  seven  days,  before  reaching  the 
open  Gulf,  which  they  at  length  entered  through  a  strait,  between 
the  mainland  and  an  island — most  probably  through  the  entrance 
of  the  Bay  of  Pensacola,  which  is  just  ninety  miles  in  that  direc 
tion,  from  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Bay  of  Chocta-hatchee. 

*Hatchee  or  Hoochee  meant  a  River  in  the  languages  of  nearly  all  the  nations 
of  that  part  of  America. 
|  See  Bartram's  account  of  his  visit  to  these  three  towns  in  1774. 


1528.]  THE   SPANIARDS  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.     83 

Thence  they  continued  their  navigation  westward  along  the  coast, 
suffering  constantly  from  insufficiency  of  food,  and  often  from 
thirst,  as  their  horse-skin  bottles  proved  useless ;  and  they  were 
obliged,  in  many  cases,  to  have  severe  combats  with  the  natives, 
in  order  to  procure  fresh  water. 

Wending  their  way  thus  slowly  along  the  coast,  the  Spaniards, 
at  the  end  of  a  month,  had  reached  a  small  cluster  of  islands  near 
the  mainland,  where  they  were  attacked  by  a  numerous  party  of 
natives  in  canoes,  who  chased  them  during  the  whole  day,  and  an 
noyed  them  considerably  by  vollies  of  stones  and  arrows.  "Thus," 
writes  Cabeza  de  Vaca  in  his  narrative,  "  we  continued  our  voyage 
through  that  day  [November  1st]  until  the  hour  of  vespers; 
when,  my  boat  being  the  foremost,  I  observed  a  point  of  land, 
beyond  which  was  a  very  great  river,  and  I  halted  at  an  islet  off 
the  point,  to  wait  for  the  other  boats.  The  governor,  [Narvaez] 
however,  would  not  come  up,  but  chose  rather  to  remain  in  a 
bay  very  near,  where  wrere  many  small  islands ;  and  there  we 
joined  company,  and  took  up  fresh  water  from  the  sea  into  which 
the  river  poured  in  a  torrent.  As  we  had  eaten  our  corn  raw  for 
two  days,  we  landed  upon  the  island  to  parch  some;  but  finding 
no  wood  there,  we  agreed  to  go  to  the  river  beyond  the  point,  a 
league  distant:  on  going  there,  however,  the  current  was  so  vio 
lent  that  we  were  entirely  unable  to  enter,  and  were  driven  away 
from  the  land,  notwithstanding  all  our  efforts  and  labor  to  reach  it." 

The  river  here  mentioned  could  have  been  no  other  than  the 
Mississippi,  the  only  stream  flowing  into  the  Mexican  Gulf,  or 
into  any  other  sea  from  North  America,  the  waters  of  which 
remain  so  pure  and  unmixed  with  those  of  the  sea,  as  to  be 
potable  at  the  distance  of  a  league  from  their  outlet.  This  outlet 
had  been  already  seen  in  1519,  by  Pineda,  who  represented  it  on 
his  chart,  under  the  name  of  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo;  or  the  merit 
of  discovering  the  greatest  river  of  North  America,  if  not  of  the 
whole  world,  should  have  been  assigned  to  Panfilo  de  Narvaez 
and  Cabeza  de  Vaca.* 

The  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  is  the  only  spot  mentioned  in  the 

*  This  observation  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  Spaniards  in  1528,  is 
not  noticed  in  any  work  hitherto  published,  except  the  original  narrative  of  Ca 
beza  de  Vaca ;  the  discovery  of  the  great  river  being  elsewhere  universally  as 
cribed  to  Hernando  de  Soto. 


84  ,     WRECK    OF    THE    SPANISH    BOATS.  [1528. 

account  of  the  expedition  of  Narvaez,  which  can  be  identified 
with  certainty.  Before  reaching  it,  the  Spaniards  had  suffered 
much ;  but  there  begun  the  disasters  of  the  party.  Not  only  were 
they  prevented  from  entering  the  great  river,  but  they  were  also 
driven  by  the  violence  of  its  current  during  the  night,  so  far  out 
to  sea,  that  their  boats  were  separated,  and  two  disappeared. 
The  three  remaining  boats  continued  their  voyage  along  the  coast 
westward  five  days  longer,  at  the  end  of  which,  a  dreadful  storm 
arose,  and  the  unfortunate  men,  exhausted  by  want  of  food  and 
water,  and  by  incessant  labor  at  the  oars,  were  unable  to  prevent 
their  slender  skiffs  from  ;  being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  shore. 
The  boat  commanded  by  the  Treasurer  and  one  other,  were  cast 
together  upon  an  island,  and  eighty  persons,  composing  about 
the  half  of  those  on  board,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  land ; 
the  third  boat  containing  the  Adelantado,  was  wrecked,  as  after 
wards  learned,  farther  west,  where  her  crew  all  perished  in  vari 
ous  ways. 

The  island  on  which  Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  his  companions  were 
thrown,  is  described  by  him,  as  being  five  leagues  in  length,  by 
half  a  league  in  breadth,  and  distant  half  a  league  from  the  main 
land;  and  as  they  had  spent  five  days  on  their  passage  to  it,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  it  was  more  probably  one  of  the 
islands  near  Atchafalaya  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Louisiana,  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  great  river,  than  that  of  Galves- 
ton,  the  next  large  island  on  the  west,  which  is  situated  at  more 
than  double  that  distance.  It  was  temporarily  occupied  by  In 
dians  of  large  stature,  who  repaired  thither  in  the  cold  season, 
to  obtain  food  from  the  roots,  growing  abundantly  in  the  marshy 
places  on  that  coast:  these  people  soon  surrounded  the  Span 
iards  in  great  numbers;  but  to  the  surprise  of  the  latter,  they 
were  treated  with  kindness,  and  supplied  with  food  and  fuel 
by  the  natives,  which  induced  Cabeza  de  Vaca  to  fear  that 
he  and  his  companions  might  be  reserved  as  sacrifices  to 
the  gods,  or  to  glut  the  appetites  of  their  new  friends.  This 
dread  was  however  soon  removed,  when  it  appeared  that  the 
natives  regarded  their  visiters  as  physicians  or  sorcerers,  who 
could  cure  their  diseases  by  charms  and  medicines;  and  the 
Spaniards  accordingly  exerted  themselves  in  the  performance  of 
their  supposed  functions,  praying  to  the  Virgin  for  aid  in  their 


1533.]  THE     SPANIARDS    ON    THE    ISLE    OF    MISERY.  85 

efforts,  to  secure  the  favor  of  the  savages  :  but  they  seem  to  have 
had  little  success,  as  more  than  half  of  their  patients  died  of  a 
disease  of  the  stomach,  before  the  spring. 

In  the  meantime,  the  number  of  Europeans  on  the  island  had 
been  reduced  to  about  fifteen.  Of  the  others,  several  had  been 
drpwned  in  an  attempt  to  put  to  sea  in  one  of  the  boats,  which 
they  had  repaired,  and  a  few  had  gone  to  the  mainland,  resolved 
to  make  their  way  if  possible  to  Mexico :  but  they  had  for  the 
most  part  perished  from  hunger,  which  drove  some  to  cannibalism, 
or  from  sickness,  fatigue  or  despair;  and  they  were  fully  justified 
in  applying  to  the  place  the  name  of  Isla  de  Malhado — Isle  of 
Misery. 

In  this  island  and  the  adjacent  country,  Cabeza  de  Vaca  and 
his  companions  spent  three  or  four  years  in  wretched  slavery, 
making  annual  peregrinations,  with  the  tribe  to  which  they  were 
attached,  in  various  directions,  in  search  of  food :  sometimes  to 
the  marshes,  where  they  dug  for  roots  ;  then  to  the  oyster  beds 
on  the  sea  shore ;  and  during  a  certain  period  of  the  year,  to 
sandy  wastes  in  the  interior,  covered  with  the  cactus,  which  pro 
duces  an  agreeable  fruit  called  the  tuna,  or  prickly  pear,  resem 
bling  the  fig.  Of  the  positions  of  these  places,  it  is  impossible  to 
learn  any  thing  definite,  from  the  narrative  of  the  Treasurer ;  nor 
is  any  one  of  the  numerous  names  mentioned  by  him  found  in 
any  other  account  of  that  part  of  America.  His  general  descrip 
tions  are,  however,  perfectly  conformable  with  what  we  know  of 
the  face  of  those  countries,  and  of  their  climate  and  productions; 
and  his  minute  accounts  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  in 
habitants,  are  confirmed  in  all  respects,  by  subsequent  observers. 

At  length,  probably  in  1533,  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  Dorantes,  Cas 
tillo,  and  the  negro  Estevanico,  succeeded  in  escaping  from  their 
masters,  and  directed  their  course  towards  the  west,  in  hopes  of 
reaching  some  spot  occupied  by  their  countrymen.  Their  jour 
ney  with  this  view  occupied  three  years,  during  which  they  were 
obliged  to  ramble  in  various  lines  of  march,  according  to  circum 
stances,  exposed  constantly  to  hardships  of  all  kinds.  The  whole 
powers  of  their  bodies  and  minds  were  necessarily  devoted  to  the 
great  object  of  obtaining  food;  and  they  were  often  obliged  to 
pass  many  months  with  one  tribe  of  Indians  whom  they  had  con 
ciliated  ere  they  could  procure  provisions,  sufficient  for  their 


86  CABEZA    DE    VACA    CROSSES    THE    CONTINENT.       [1536. 

supply,  until  they  could  reach  another  tribe.  Sometimes  they 
travelled  as  merchants  or  pedlars,  trafficking  in  stone,  arrow 
heads,  paint,  saltyand  other  articles  in  request  among  the  Indians; 
and  when  it  could  be  done  with  prudence,  they  boldly  announced 
themselves  as  children  of  the  sun,  and  thus  acquired  much  con 
sideration.  They,  however,  depended  chiefly  on  their  medical 
skill ;  and  the  Treasurer  relates  several  amusing  anecdotes  of  their 
practice,  one  of  which  from  being  misinterpreted  has  been  made 
the  grounds  of  unjust  imputations  on  his  veracity.* 

The  observations  of  time,  place  and  direction,  made  by  men 
under  such  circumstances  could  not  have  been  very  precise ;  and 
their  recollections  were  doubtless  often  inaccurate  on  those  points. 
Enough  however  may  be  gathered  from  the  narrative  of  Cabeza 
de  Vaca,  to  show  through  what  countries  he  passed,  in  his  route 
from  the  north-western  shore  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  to  the  en 
trance  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  Thus  we  learn  that  his  course 
was  at  first  south-westward,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  gulf, 
through  a  level  region,  traversed  by  many  rivers,  and  presenting 
alternately  forests  and  large  tracts  of  open  ground  or  prairie — 
this  must  have  been  Texas.  He  then  found  the  country  rough 
and  arid;  and  agreeably  to  the  advice  of  the  Indians,  he  turned 
more  to  the  west,  and  crossing  some  mountains,  he  arrived  in  a 
valley,  through  which  ran  a  large  river,  flowing  from  the  north. 
This  river  was  most  probably  the  Rio  del  Norte;  the  valley  was 
thickly  peopled,  and  the  Spaniards  remained  in  it  several  months, 
during  which  they  followed  the  stream  up  towards  its  sources, 
in  a  desert  region,  inhabited  by  wild  Indians,  who  lived  entirely 
by  hunting  hump-backed  oxen  or  buffaloes.  Thence  they  crossed 
a  great  chain  of  mountains,  to  another  territory,  more  fruitful, 
agreeable  and  populous,  than  any  seen  in  their  way,  which  was 
certainly  Sonora;  and  directing  their  course  along  the  banks  of 
a  river,  probably  the  Yaqui,  they  reached  the  shores  of  the  Cali- 
fornian  Gulf,  where  they  first  received  distinct  accounts  of  their 
countrymen  at  Culiacan.  There  they  finjilly  arrived,  as  already 
stated,  in  1536,  eight  years  after  their  landing  in  Florida;  having 

*  In  the  abstracts  of  his  narrative,  Cabeza  de  Vaca  is  represented  as  asserting, 
that  he  restored  a  dead  man  to  life,  by  prayers  and  by  blowing  on  him ;  whereas, 
he  merely  states,  that  a  man  believed  by  him  and  all  others  around  to  be  dead, 
recovered,  as  was  afterwards  learned  from  an  Indian. 


1537.]  EXPEDITION    OF    FRIAR    MARCOS    DE    NiZA.  87 

made  one  of  the  longest  journies,  and  passed  through  some  of 
the  most  painful  adventures  ever  recorded. 

Such  were  the  principal  circumstances  attending  the  first  expe 
dition  of  the  Spaniards,  through  the  countries  north  and  north 
west  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  according  to  the  evidence  of  the 
active,  intelligent  and  courageous  Treasurer.  From  Culiacari, 
Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  his  companions  proceeded  to  Mexico,  where 
they  were  interrogated  as  to  their  adventures,  by  the  Viceroy 
Mendoza  and  by  Cortes.  They  had  themselves  seen  no  signs 
whatever  of  wealth,  or  civilization,  in  the  territories  traversed  by 
them ;  but  they  had  every  where  received  confused  accounts,  of 
rich  and  powerful  nations,  dwelling  north  of  their  line  of  route : 
and  the  Viceroy,  being  desirous  to  learn  the  truth  of  these  ru 
mors,  despatched  Friar  Marcos  de  Niza,  a  Franciscan  friar,  in 
company  writh  the  negro  Estevanico,  in  search  of  the  nations  in 
question.  At  the  end  of  a  year  the  friar  returned,  and  de 
clared  that  he  had  visited  a  delightful  region,  called  Cibola,  which 
was  situated  far  north-west  of  Mexico  and  contained  many  large 
and  magnificent  cities,  inhabited  by  a  numerous,  wealthy  and  re 
fined  population;  and  the  right  of  conquering  this  country,  and 
converting  its  occupants  to  Christianity,  immediately  became  the 
subject  of  contest,  between  various  aspirants,  including  Cortes 
and  Mendoza,  each  of  whom  caused  expeditions  to  be  made  for 
that  purpose,  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  friar. 

Cabeza  de  Vaca  meanwhile,  not  daunted  by  the  perils  and  suf 
ferings  which  he  had  encountered  in  Florida,  did^iot  hesitate  on 
his  arrival  in  Spain  in  1537,  to  solicit  from  the  emperor  a  com 
mission  and  means  to  explore  the  regions  north  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf  more  fully,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  rumors 
which  he  had  heard  of  rich  countries  in  that  direction.  His  suit 
was  however  refused;  not  from  the  idea  that  his  search  would 
prove  vain,  but  from  the  superior  influence  exerted  by  another 
applicant  for  the  same  favor. 

Amongst  those  wrho  most  distinguished  themselves  in  the  con 
quest  of  Peru,  by  their  bravery  and  military  skill,  and  who  ob 
tained  the  largest  shares  of  the  spoils,  was  Hernando  de  Soto. 
At  the  conclusion  of  that  conquest,  he  wras  about  forty  years  of 
age,  and  not  content  with  holding  a  secondary  position  in  Peru, 
he  proceeded  to  Spain,  where  he  appeared  at  the  court,  in  great 


88     HERNANDO  DE  SOTO  ADELANTADO  OF  FLORIDA.  [1538. 

splendor,  about  the  time  when  Cabeza  cle  Vaca  began  to  urge 
his  claim,  for  the  command  of  forces  to  be  employed  in  Florida. 
The  wealth  and  renown  of  Soto  and  his  connection  by  marriage 
with  a  powerful  noble  family,  soon  enabled  him  to  obtain  the 
government  of  Cuba;  and  he  then  proposed  to  Cabeza  de  Vaca, 
who  was  entirely  without  means  or  interest,  that  the  latter  should 
undertake  the  conquest  of  Florida,  at  his  expense,  and  for  their 
joint  benefit.  The  proposal  was  accepted,  but  the  contract  was 
not  completed :  and  Soto  thereupon  asked  and  obtained  from  the 
sovereign  a  commission  of  Adelantado  of  Florida,  in  addition  to 
his  government  of  Cuba;  while  Cabeza  de  Vaca  was  obliged 
to  content  himself  with  the  direction  of  a  small  force  destined 
for  the  occupation  of  the  river  of  La  Plata,  from  which  he  de 
rived  no  other  advantage  than  the  materials  for  another  narrative 
of  adventures  and  sufferings. 

*  Of  the  accounts  of  the  expedition  of  Hernando  de  Soto  those  most  worthy  of 
reliance  are — 

"Relagam  Verdadeira,  &c.,"  in  English,  "A  true  relation  of  the  conquest  of 
Florida  by  the  Spaniards  under  Don  Hernando  de  Soto,"  written  in  Portuguese, 
by  one  of  the  adventurers,  whose  name  is  unknown,  and  first  published  at  Evora 
in  1557.  The  original  is  very  rare — but  two  English  translations  have  appeared ; 
the  first  by  Hakluyt,  in  1609,  and  reprinted  in  184C  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the 
valuable  collection  of  tracts  relating  to  America,  by  the  learned  and  indefatiga 
ble  Peter  Force  of  Washington ;  the  other  published  anonymously  in  1686. 

The  narrative  of  Luis  Hernandes  de  Biedma,  the  factor  of  the  expedition,  pre 
sented  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  by  the  writer  in  1544,  immediately  after  his 
return  from  Florida.  The  original  still  remains  unpublished  in  the  archives  of 
the  Spanish  government ;  a  French  translation,  which  is  somewhat  obscure,  and 
most  probably  incorrect,  in  many  points,  is  given  by  Ternaux  Compans,  in  his 
"Recueil  de  Voyages,  &c.,"  printed  at  Paris  in  1841. 

In  the  same  French  Collection  is  also  a  translation  of  a  letter  addressed  by 
Soto,  to  the  Municipality  of  Havanna,  from  the  place  of  his  disembarcation  in 
Florida  on  the  9th  of  July,  1539,  and  sent  by  the  ships  returning  to  Cuba,  imme 
diately  before  his  departure  for  the  interior;  it  however  throws  very  little  light 
upon  the  expedition. 

The  most  full  and  valuable  account  in  every  respect,  is  that  given  by  Herrera 
in  the  6th  and  7th  Decades  of  his  History  of  the  Indies,  derived  from  numerous 
authorities,  published  and  unpublished,  to  the  latter  of  which,  he  had  access  in 
his  quality  of  Historiographer  of  the  Indies. 

The  above  may  be  considered  as  evidence  of  the  occurrences  of  the  expedition. 
The  celebrated  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Florida,  by  the  Peruvian,  Garcilaso 
de  la  Vega,  entitled  "La  Florida  del  Ynca,"  first  published  at  Lisbon  in  1605,  is 
no  doubt,  as  declared,  founded  on  original  evidence ;  but  the  facts  are  so  much  dis 
torted  by  the  extravagant  dress  in  which  they  are  all  presented,  that  the  work  de 
serves  to  be  classed  rather  with  bombastic  romances,  than  with  authentic  histories. 


V 

1539.]     LANDING    OF    HERNANDO    DE    SOTO    IN    FLORIDA.  89 

Immediately  on  receiving  his  commission  as  Adelantado  of 
Florida,  Hernando  de  Soto  raised  his  standard,  under  which  six 
hundred  men,  including  several  of  high  rank  and  large  fortune, 
were  soon  enrolled  as  volunteers  or  recruits;  and  ten  vessels 
having  been  prepared  for  their  transportation,  they  sailed  from 
San  Lucar,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Guadalquivir,  in  April,  1538. 
In  due  time  they  arrived  in  Cuba;  but  Soto  was  detained  in  that 
island,  by  the  cares  of  its  government  until  May  of  the  following 
year,  on  the  18th  of  which  month  he  departed  with  his  forces, 
from  Havanna,  for  the  coast  of  Florida.  His  squadron  consisted 
of  five  large  ships  and  four  small  vessels,  carrying  together 
about  seven  hundred  men,*  and  three  hundred  horses ;  their  pro 
gress  was  delayed  by  calms,  but  in  eight  days  they  reached  the 
entrance  of  a  harbor  on  the  western  side  of  the  peninsula  of 
Florida,  which  had  been  previously  selected  as  the  place  of  dis- 
embarcation  by  officers  sent  for  the  purpose  from  Cuba.  Some 
difficulties  occurring  there,  from  want  of  knowledge  of  the  chan 
nel,  Soto  landed  the  men  and  horses  at  the  entrance  and  then 
proceeded  with  the  vessels  to  the  extremity  of  the  harbor,  distant 
twelve  leagues  from  the  sea,  where  all  his  forces  were  assembled 
in  the  beginning  of  June. 

The  harbor  at  which  the  Spaniards  thus  landed  in  Florida, 
was  previously  known  as  Baia  Honda — Deep  Bay;  but  Soto 
called  it  Port  of  Espiritu  Santo,  in  commemoration  of  his  having 
reached  it  on  Whitsunday,  the  Pascua  del  Espiritu  Santo,  or 
Feast  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  the  Spanish  Calendar. 
It  is  at  present  usually  supposed  to  have  been  the  same,  now 
known  as  Tampa  Bay,  opening  to  the  Gulf  near  the  28th  degree 
of  latitude;  though  the  name  of  Port  of  Espiritu  Santo,  was  ap 
plied  during  the  remainder  of  the  century,  in  which  Soto  made 
his  expedition,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tocobaga  river,  now  the 
Suwannee,  entering  the  sea  in  latitude  of  29  degrees  20  minutes. 
The  original  accounts  of  the  movements  of  the  Spaniards  in 
Florida,  are  so  vague  and  defective,  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  identify  a  single  spot  mentioned  in  them  ;  the  statement  in  one 
of  those  narratives,  that  the  vessels  (none  of  them  probably 
drawing  more  than  ten  feet  when  fully  laden)  found  great  diffi 
culty  in  entering  and  ascending  the  harbor,  in  consequence  of  its 
*  The  numbers  are  differently  stated  in  the  different  accounts. 

12 


90  PLACE    OF    LANDING    OF    THE    SPANIARDS.  [1539. 

shallowness,  seems  to  contradict  the  supposition  that  it  could  be 
the  Bay  of  Tampa,  which  will  admit  the  largest  frigates  with 
ease :  but  this  statement  is  not  confirmed  by  other  accounts  of 
higher  authority ;  and  neither  the  Suwannee,  nor  any  other  river 
or  harbor  on  the  western  side  of  the  peninsula,  north  of  Tampa, 
will  afford  an  entrance  to  vessels  drawing  more  than  five  feet. 
It  may  be  added,  that  the  name  given  by  Soto,  has  been  assigned 
by  geographers  during  the  seventeenth  century,  to  every  large 
opening  on  the  northern  coasts  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  along  which 
it  has  travelled  westward  from  Tampa  to  the  opposite  side,  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Bravo,  wrhere  it  seems  to  be  now 
definitively  established.* 

At  the  extremity  of  the  Port  of  Espiritu  Santo,  here  supposed 
to  be  Tampa  Bay,  was  a  large  Indian  village,  called  Hirrihiagua, 
entirely  deserted,  in  which  Soto  established  his  head  quarters, 
and  remained  until  the  middle  of  July.  Exploring  parties  in  the 
meantime  scoured  the  adjacent  country,  in  search  of  provisions, 
in  the  course  of  which,  they  had  some  severe  conflicts  with  the 
natives.  One  of  these  parties,  fortunately,  met  with  a  Spaniard 

*  Soto,  in  his  letter  written  at  the  Port  of  Espiritu  Santo  to  the  Municipality 
of  Havanna,  gives  the  following  account  of  his  landing  in  Florida : 

"I  left  Havanna  with  my  whole  fleet  on  the  18th  of  May,  though  I  had  written 
word  that  I  should  not  weigh  anchor  until  the  25th ;  but  I  sailed  thus  earlier,  in 
order  to  take  advantage  of  the  wind,  which  was  favorable.  Calms  ensued 
when  we  entered  the  gulf;  yet  they  were  not  so  constant  as  to  prevent  us  from 
reaching  this  coast  in  eight  days,  which  we  did  on  Whitsunday.  We  missed 
the  port  by  five  or  six  leagues,  none  of  our  pilots  being  able  to  ascertain  where 
we  were,  so  that  I  was  obliged  to  go  with  the  brigantines  to  look  for  it.  We 
spent  three  days  in  this  search  and  in  staying  there ;  being  farther  delayed  by  our 
not  knowing  the  channel,  as  the  bay  is  twelve  leagues  and  more  in  depth.  This 
loss  of  time,  obliged  me  to  send  my  Lieutenant  General,  Vasco  Porcallo  de  Fi- 
gueroa,  with  the  brigantines,  to  take  possession  of  a  village,  situated  at  the  ex 
tremity  of  the  bay.  I  ordered  all  the  troops  and  horses  to  be  landed  on  the  shore, 
and  with  much  difficulty  I  effected  my  junction  with  Vasco  Porcallo,  on  the 
Sunday  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  &c." 

In  the  Portuguese  narrative  of  the  expedition,  the  same  circumstances  are  thus 
presented : 

"  On  the  25th  of  May,  the  day  of  Pascua  del  Espiritu  Santo,  they  saw  the  land 
of  Florida,  and  because  of  the  shoals,  they  came  to  an  anchor  a  league  from  the 
shore.  On  Friday,  30th  of  May,  they  landed  in  Florida,  two  leagues  from  a 
town  of  an  Indian  lord,  called  Ucita.  They  set  on  land  213  horses,  which  they 
brought  with  them,  to  unburden  the  ships,  that  they  might  draw  the  less  water. 
He  landed  all  his  men,  and  only  the  seamen  remained  in  the  ships,  which  going 
up  with  the  tide  every  day  a  little,  brought  them  up  into  the  town." 


1539.]  MARCH    THROUGH    THE    PENINSULA.  91 

named  Juan  Ortiz,  who  had  landed  with  Narvaez  twelve  years 
before,  and  had  been  ever  since  in  captivity  among  the  Indians : 
he  had  almost  forgotten  his  native  tongue,  and  knew  nothing"  of 
Florida  beyond  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  place  where  he  was 
found ;  but  he  proved  very  useful,  from  his  acquaintance  with  the 
language  and  the  habits  of  the  people.  From  his  accounts,  and 
the  observations  of  the  exploring  parties,  it  became  certain,  that 
no  precious  metals  or  stones  were  to  be  obtained  in  that  region, 
and  the  men  began,  in  consequence,  to  manifest  a  strong  desire  to 
abandon  the  enterprise;  their  leader,  however,  peremptorily 
insisted  on  prosecuting  it,  with  which  object,  he  sent  back  the 
ships  to  Cuba,  and  took  his  departure  in  the  middle  of  July  for 
the  north,  leaving  only  sixty  men  and  the  two  smallest  vessels  at 
the  harbor,  under  the  command  of  Pedro  Calderon. 

From  the  place  of  their  landing  in  Florida,  the  Spaniards 
marched  northward  for  several  days,  through  pine  forests  and 
wide  marshes,  to  an  Indian  village,  the  Chief  of  which,  on  learn 
ing  their  objects,  directed  them  to  a  country  called  Ocali,  at  some 
distance  in  the  same  course,  where  gold  was  declared  to  be  so 
plentiful,  that  it  was  used  for  the  commonest  purposes.  On  the 
way  to  this  country,  they  passed  through  a  marsh  of  great  extent, 
traversed  by  a  river,  most  probably  the  Long-swamp  of  the 
Withlacoochee;  and  after  a  tedious  journey,  they  reached  Ocali, 
which  was  only  a  large  Indian  town,  presenting  no  other  trea 
sures  to  the  eager  invaders,  than  the  stores  of  corn  and  beans, 
just  gathered  by  its  inhabitants,  for  their  support  during  the 
winter.  Ocali  appears  to  have  been  the  Alachua  prairie,  one  of 
the  most  fertile  parts  of  Florida,  situated  a  little  north  of  the 
centre  of  the  peninsula,  midway  between  the  Suwannee  and  the 
Ocklowaha  rivers.  Continuing  their  march  in  the  direction  of 
New  Spain,  within  ten  or  twelve  leagues  of  the  coast  of  the  gulf, 
the  Spaniards  crossed  in  succession  two  large  streams,  corres 
ponding  with  the  two  branches  of  the  Suwannee,  and  then  an 
other  flowing  through  a  district  called  Ochile,  which  was 
doubtless  the  Oscilla,  entering  the  gulf  at  its  north-east  angle. 
Farther  on  they  came  to  a  populous  region  called  Caliquen,  sur 
rounding  two  large  lakes,  which  are  with  good  reason  supposed 
to  be  those  hear  the  present  city  of  Tallahassee;  it  was  sub 
ject  to  a  chief  named  Uitacucho,  who  employed  all  the  arts  of 


92  SOTO    REACHES    APALACHE.  [1539. 

savage  dissimulation,  to  induce  the  strangers  to  lay  aside  their 
caution:  but  Soto  was  no  less  versed  in  those  arts  himself;  and 
when  at  length  a  violent  attack  was  made  on  the  Spaniards,  the 
Indians  were  easily  repelled  and  driven  into  one  of  the  lakes, 
where  many  of  them  perished,  and  their  king  was  made  prisoner. 
Uitacucho  still  undismayed,  endeavored,  with  the  assistance  of 
some  of  his  men  remaining  with  him  at  large  in  the  camp,  to 
murder  the  Adelantado,  who  was  struck  to  the  ground  and  nearly 
strangled,  before  assistance  could  be  had;  the  plot  however 
failed,  and  the  daring  chief,  with  his  associates,  paid  the  forfeit 
of  their  rash  attempt  with  their  lives. 

Pursuing  their  course  as  before,  parallel  to  the  coast  of  the 
gulf,  the  Spaniards  came  to  a  river,  called  Ossachile,  much  larger 
and  deeper  than  any  before  seen  by  them  in  Florida,  over  which 
they  were  obliged  to  build  a  bridge  of  boats ;  and  on  passing  it, 
they  found  themselves  in  the  country  of  Apalache,  where  they 
received  from  the  natives  many  accounts  of  Narvaez  and  his  fol 
lowers.  This  river  was  unquestionably  the  Apalachicola :  at  the 
distance  of  four  days'  journey  beyond  it  on  the  west  they  reached 
the  chief  town,  called  Anaica;  and  as  the  month  of  October  was 
then  far  advanced,  Soto  determined  to  spend  the  winter  there. 
A  party  sent  towards  the  south,  soon  discovered  the  spot  at 
which  Narvaez  had  built  his  boats,  its  position  being  clearly  in 
dicated  by  the  bones  of  horses  and  the  fragments  of  sawed 
planks ;  and  Juan  de  Aftasco,  the  comptroller,  was  then  despatched 
with  thirty  horsemen  to  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  to  direct  the 
men  left  there,  to  come  in  the  vessels,  to  that  part  of.  the  coast. 

This  perilous  journey  of  three  hundred  miles*  was  performed 
by  Aflasco  and  his  men  in  eleven  days,  during  which  they  were 
constantly  beset  by  enemies ;  and  having  delivered  the  orders  to 
Calderon,  the  commandant  at  the  bay,  they  returned  in  the  same 
way,  with  still  greater  difficulty  to  Anaica.  Calderon  soon  after 
appeared  with  his  vessels  at  the  place  appointed,  near  the  quar 
ters  of  the  army ;  but  it  not  being  considered  safe,  Francisco  de 
Maldonado  was  ordered  to  take  the  vessels  along  the  coast  to- 

*  The  particulars  of  this  journey  are  related  with  minuteness  by  Hen-era,  who 
thus  affords  the  best  means  of  ascertaining  the  positions  of  the  places  visited  by 
the  Spaniards,  from  the  time  of  their  landing,  to  their  establishment  for  the 
winter  in  Apalache. 


1539.]         DISCOVERY    OF    ACHUSI    OR   PENSACOLA    BAY.  93 

wards  the  west,  in  search  of  some  better  harbor.  Of  the  latter  * 
officer  nothing  was  heard  for  two  months,  at  the  end  of  which 
information  was  received  from  him,  that  he  had  discovered  an 
excellent  port,  called  by  the  natives  Ochus  or  Achusi,  sixty 
leagues  west  of  Anaica;  and  there  he  lay  with  his  vessels,  until 
the  following  spring. 

This  port  of  Ochus  or  Achusi,  though  described  in  the  narra 
tives  of  the  expedition  no  farther  than  as  an  excellent  harbor, 
situated  sixty  leagues  west  of  Apalache,  is  one  of  the  few  places, 
if  not  the  only  place  mentioned  in  those  accounts,  which  can  be 
identified  with  certainty  at  the  present  day.  Eighteen  years  af 
ter  its  discovery  by  Maldonado,  it  was  selected  by  the  Spaniards 
as  a  proper  spot  for  a  naval  station  and  a  settlement,  with  which 
view  a  large  number  of  persons  were  carried  thither  from 
Mexico,  and  it  received  the.  name  of  Bay  of  Santa  Maria :  this 
enterprise  did  not  prove  successful,  and  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria 
was  deserted  for  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  longer,  at  the  end  of 
which  period  it  was  re-occupied  and  has  ever  since  been  known 
as  the  Bay  of  Pensacola.*  Anaica,  the  town  in  Apalache  at 
which  Hernando  de  Soto  and  his  followers  passed  the  winter  of 
1539,  being  sixty  leagues  east  of  Achusi,  and  ten  leagues  from 
the  sea  coast  where  Narvaez  built  his  boats  twelve  years  earlier, 
must  have  been  situated  between  the  Apalachicola  and  the  Chacta- 
hatchee  river,  probably  near  the  line  of  separation  between  the 
States  of  Florida  and  Alabama ;  and  it  may  have  been  the  Aute, 
mentioned  in  the  accounts  of  the  expedition  of  Narvaez. 

During  the  winter  passed  by  the  Spaniards  in  Apalache,  they 
as  usual  treated  the  natives  with  the  utmost  inhumanity,  keeping 
large  numbers  of  them  constantly  employed  in  transporting  pro 
visions  and  in  other  labors ;  in  return  for  which,  several  of  the 
invaders  fell  victims  to  the  rage  of  the  overtasked  Indians.  Soto 
had  in  the  meantime  made  inquiries  respecting  the  interior  regions, 
the  answers  to  which  were  so  little  calculated  to  encourage  the 
expectations  of  his  followers,  that  they  often  clamorously  de 
manded  to  be  carried  back  to  Cuba ;  but  their  general  had  firmly 
resolved  never  to  return,  until  he  had  achieved  something  calcu 
lated  to  add  to  his  fame ;  and  having  at  length  extracted  from  a 

•*  See  accounts  in  the  following  chapter  of  the  expedition  of  Arellano  in  1558, 
and  in  Chapter  VIII.  of  the  establishment  of  the  Spaniards  at  Pensacolain  1693. 


94  DEPARTURE    OF    SOTO    FROM    APALACHE.  T1540. 

L 

poor,  half-witted  youth,  who  was  found  in  slavery  among  the 
natives,  some  confused  accounts  of  a  country  called  Yupaha,  far 
in  the  direction  of  the  rising  sun,  where  gold,  silver  and  pearls 
abounded,  he  announced  his  intention  to  march  thither  in  the  en 
suing  spring.  Orders  were  in  consequence  sent  to  Maldonado 
at  Achusi,  to  proceed  with  the  vessels  to  Cuba  and  obtain  sup 
plies  of  provisions,  with  wrhich  he  was  to  return  to  that  harbor, 
or  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Espiritu  Santo  in  the  autumn; 
and  on  the  3d  of  March,  1540,  the  whole  party,  in  number 
about  six  hundred,  set  off  in  search  of  Yupaha,  accompanied  by 
many  Indians  in  chains  as  porters,  and  a  drove  of  hogs  which 
they  had  brought  from  the  West  Indies,  as  a  resource,  in  case  of 
scarcity  of  food. 

From  this  time,  nothing  was  heard  of  Hernando  de  Soto  or  of 
any  of  his  followers,  for  three  years.  Maldonado  returned  ac 
cording  to  his  orders  to  Achusi,  in  the  autumn ;  and  after  waiting 
there  some  time,  he  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Es 
piritu  Santo  and  to  other  points  on  the  coast,  from  which  he  went 
back  to  Cuba,  without  any  news  of  his  countrymen.  The  same 
course  was  taken  by  him  in  the  next,  and  in  each  of  the  two  en 
suing  years,  with  no  more  success;  and  preparations  were  in 
progress  for  a  complete  search  through  the  interior  of  Florida,  to 
be  commenced  in  the  spring  of  1544,  wThen  information  reached 
Cuba  that  a  large  number  of  persons  who  had  been  engaged  in 
the  expedition  had  arrived  in  Mexico.  From  the  accounts  of 
these  persons,  several  narratives  have  been  composed,  differing, 
as  might  have  been  expected,  on  smaller  points,  but  sufficiently 
concordant  in  general,  to  afford  a  tolerably  clear  view  of  the  in 
cidents  of  that  famous  enterprise,  of  which  a  concise  statement 
will  be  now  presented. 

From  Anaica,  the  Spaniards  marched  north-westward,  and 
after  passing  a  marsh,  probably  on  the  Chipola  river,  they  reached 
a  very  large  stream,  no  doubt  the  Apalachicola,  along  the  side 
of  which  they  proceeded  northward,  for  several  days,  through 
many  Indian  towns,  to  a  country  called  Cofachi,  where  they 
crossed  the  river  on  a  sort  of  flying  bridge.  Continuing  their 
course  north-eastward,  they  passed  other  rivers,  probably  branches 
of  the  Flint,  and  then  reached  the  country  of  Altapaha  or  Al- 
tamaca,  where  they  first  observed  that  the  streams  no  longer 


1540.]     SOTO  IN  GEORGIA  AND  SOUTH  CAROLINA.         95 

flowed  southward  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  but  took  an  eastward  di 
rection,  to  the  Atlantic.*  These  streams  must  have  been  the 
Ocmulgee  and  the  Oconee,f  the  two  great  branches  of  the  Ala- 
tamaha;  beyond  them  the  country  was  much  less  fruitful  and  popu 
lous,  and  the  Spaniards  began  to  suffer  from  want  of  food,  so 
much,  that  it  became  necessary  to  kill  a  number  of  their  hogs. 
The  poor  youth  who  acted  as  their  guide,  here  had  a  fit,  which 
however  passed  off,  after  a  prayer  had  been  said  over  him :  it 
moreover  became  evident  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  country, 
through  which  they  were  going;  and  the  Adelantado  was  about 
*o  order  him  to  be  thrown  to  the  dogs,  when  it  was  recollected 
Jiat  his  services  might  be  required  as  an  interpreter,  in  case  they 
should  really  find  the  land  of  gold  and  pearls. 

After  many  days  spent  in  traversing  this  poor  country,  called 
by  the  natives  Patofa,  the  Spaniards  arrived  at  a  very  large  river, 
on  the  bank  of  which  they  marched  upwards,  in  a  northerly 
course,  for  some  days;  and  then  crossing  it  with  much  difficulty, 
and  with  the  loss  of  several  horses,  they,  in  the  latter  part  of 
April,  reached  the  country  of  Cutifa-chiqui,  which  was  declared 
by  their  guide  to  be  the  promised  land  of  Yupaha.  It  was  gov 
erned  by  a  queen,  who  received  the  Spaniards  with  the  utmost 
hospitality :  she  had  neither  gold  nor  silver,  nor  had  any  idea  of 
those  metals ;  but  she  supplied  the  strangers  plentifully  with  corn, 
beans,  and  other  provisions,  and  allowed  them  to  rifle  the  tem 
ples,  or  places  where  the  dead  were  deposited,  of  the  pearls 
adorning  their  corpses.^:  The  jewels  thus  collected,  were  proba 
bly  nothing  more  than  wampum,  or  beads  made  of  shells,  of  no 
value;  and  this  must  have  been  well  known  to  Soto,  who  had 
received  the  cushion  of  Atahualpa,  the  unfortunate  sovereign  of 
Peru,  worked  with  the  finest  pearls  of  the  South  Sea,  as  his 
share  of  the  spoils  of  that  kingdom:  but  he  did  not  allow  the- 
truth  to  be  communicated  to  his  men,  among  whom  the  plundei 
was  fairly  divided,  as  an  earnest  of  what  they  might  find  in  future. 

*  Narrative  of  Biedma,  in  the  Collection  of  Ternaux  Compans. 

f  Ok  or  oke,  signified  water  in  the  language  of  nearly  all  the  nations  of  those 
countries. 

J  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega  gives  full  play  to  his  imagination  in  the  description  of 
the  great  temple  of  Tolomeca,  the  capital  of  Cutifa-chiqui,  which,  according  to 
his  accounts,  would  have  been  a  miracle  of  art  and  riches. 


36  THE    SPANIARDS    AMONG    THE    CHEROKEES.  [1540. 

In  the  same  temples,  or  more  properly  cemeteries,  were  found 
some  iron  hatchets,  and  other  articles  of  Spanish  manufacture; 
and  upon  enquiry,  it  appeared  that  they  had  been  obtained  from 
white  men,  who  had  come  some  years  before,  to  the  coast  near 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  built  houses,  but  had  nearly  all  per 
ished  from  disease  and  in  contests  among  themselves.  These 
circumstances,  as  well  as  the  position  of  the  country,  left  no  doubt 
that  the  persons  thus  mentioned  wrere  Vazquez  de  Ayllon  and  his 
people,  who  had  attempted  to  settle  in  Chicora  in  1526;  and  the 
followers  of  Soto  earnestly  entreated  to  be  allowed  to  establish 
themselves  there,  urging  particularly,  the  advantages  which  would 
result  from  the  foundation  of  a  city  on  the  coast,  at  which  vessels 
might  stop,  on  their  way  from  Mexico  and  the  West  Indian 
islands  to  Spain.  The  Adelantado,  however,  as  on  the  former 
occasions,  rejected  the  inglorious  proposition  :  he  indeed  sent  per 
sons  down  the  river  south-eastward,  to  seek  its  mouth,  but  they, 
after  several  days,  returned  without  attaining  their  object;  and 
having  in  the  meantime  learned  that  a  rich  country,  called  Co£a, 
lay  at  some  distance  in  the  north-west,  he  took  his  departure  for 
it  on  the  3d  of  May,  with  his  whole  force. 

Cutifa-chiqui  was  no  doubt  in  the  western  part  of  South  Caro 
lina,  inhabited  a  century  later  by  the  warlike  Catawbas  ;*  and  the 
great  river  on*which  it  bordered  may  have  been  the  Savannah, 
or  more  probably  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Santee  falling  into 
the  Atlantic  a  little  north  of  Charleston.  On  leaving  the  country, 
the  Spaniards  carried  the  queen  with  them  as  a  hostage  for  the 
fidelity  of  her  subjects,  of  whom  a  large  number  were,  as  usual, 
seized  by  the  invaders,  and  compelled  to  act  as  guides  and  por 
ters;  her  majesty,  however,  soon  made  her  escape  with  one  of 
her  lovers,  taking  off,  moreover,  all  her  jewels.  Marching  north 
ward  up  the  valley  of  the  river,  Soto,  in  eight  days,  reached  a 
poor  and  hilly  country,  occupied  by  a  simple  people  called  the 
Chalaque,  who  supported  themselves  on  roots  and  the  produce 
of  the  chase ;  this  was  no  doubt  the  westernmost  part  of  North 
Carolina,  occupied,  until  a  recent  period,  by  the  Cherokees,  or 
Tsalakees,  as  pronounced  by  some  of  their  tribes.  Continuing 
onwards  in  a  western  direction,  the  Spaniards  crossed  a  range  of 
mountains,  and  passing  through  Xualla,  Guaxule  and  Canasauga, 

*  May  not  Cutifa  have  been  the  Spanish  expression  of  Cataba  or  Catawba? 


1540.]  THE    SPANIARDS    ON    THE    TENNESSEE.  97 

(which  latter  name  is  still  given  to  a  place  on  one  of  the  extreme 
north-eastern  sources  of  the  Coosa  river,)  they  came  to  the  con 
siderable  town  of  Chiaha,  situated  on  an  island  in  a  large  river, 
where  they  remained  thirty  days,  feasting  on  Indian  corn,  wild 
turkies,  bears'  fat,  nuts,  plums,  and  mulberries. 

The  river  in  which  Chiaha  stood  was  very  wide  and  deep,  and 
was  believed  by  the  Spaniards  to  be  that  of  Espiritu  Santo  or 
the  Mississippi ;  it  contained  many  islands,  and  its  shores  were 
covered  with  shell-fish,  from  which  several  pearls  were  obtained. 
These  circumstances,  together  with  the  position  of  the  place,  as 
indicated  by  the  course  of  the  adventurers  towards  it,  favor  the 
supposition  that  it  may  have  been  situated  in  the  Tennessee  river, 
the  largest  stream  of  that  region,  which  contains  innumerable 
islands,  and  the  shores  of  which,  in  many  parts,  abound  in  crus- 
taceous  animals.*  From  Chiaha,  the  Spaniards,  after  they  had 
sufficiently  refreshed  themselves,  marched  along  the  banks  of  the 
river  several  days,  to  another  large  town,  called  Coste,  also  situ 
ated  on  an  island ;  and  then  taking  a  southward  course,  they  ar 
rived  in  the  country  of  Cof  a  on  the  26th  of  July. 

At  Coste,  small  hatchets  of  copper  were  seen,  which  Soto 
learned  had  been  brought  from  a  region  far  in  the  north  called 
Chisca,  where  that  metal  was  found  in  great  quantities,  "with 
others  of  a  finer,  and  brighter  color;"  and  two  Spaniards  were 
accordingly  sent  with  Indians,  to  seek  additional  information, 
respecting  that  region.  After  some  time,  this  party  returned 
with  a  report  that  they  had  travelled  through  a  rough  country  for 
several  days,  without  hearing  of  Chisca,  or  seeing  any  thing 
worthy  of  note,  except  the  ox  hides,  one  of  which,  very  soft 
and  covered  with  fine  wool,  they  brought  with  them.  This  is 
the  first  allusion  to  the  buffalo,  in  the  accounts  of  the  expedition; 
the  men  sent  in  search  of  Chisca  had  no  doubt  penetrated  to  the 
centre  of  the  present  State  of  Tennessee.  Copper  hatchets  are 
found  in  many  parts  of  North  America,  which  must  have  been 
made  of  native  copper,  as  the  Indians  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
acquainted  with  the  art  of  reducing  the  ore ;  and  the  metal  was 
most  probably  all  brought  from  the  region  about  Lake  Superior, 

*  For  instance  at  the  Mussel  Shoals  in  the  northern  part  of  Alabama,  where 
the  Tennessee  spreads  to  a  great  breadth,  embracing  hundreds  of  islands,  covered 
with  those  shell-fish. 

13 


98  SOTO    IN    GEORGIA    AND    ALAMABA.  [1540. 

where  copper  exists  in  its  pure  state,  as  well  as  in  the  ore,  in 
greater  quantities  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  yet  known. 
Possibly  that  region  may  have  been  the  Chisca  which  Soto  was 
so  anxious  to  discover. 

Cof  a  proved  to  be  a  fertile  and  delightful  country,  abounding 
in  Indian  corn  and  fruits  of  various  kinds,  particularly  grapes, 
which  grew  on  vines  of  extraordinary  size;  it  no  doubt  embraced 
the  north-western  part  of  the  present  State  of  Georgia,  and  the 
adjoining  region  in  Alabama,  traversed  by  the  Coosa,  one  of  the 
head  streams  of  the  Alabama,  than  wThich  no  part  of  America 
possesses  a  climate  more  agreeable  and  salubrious,  combined 
with  a  soil  so  productive.  The  Spaniards  there  displayed 
more  than  their  usual  violence  towards  the  natives,  whom  they 
compelled  to  fly  to  the  woods,  and  then  hunted  with  blood 
hounds,  in  order  to  secure  their  services,  as  guides  or  porters. 
Having  in  this  manner  accumulated  a  large  quantity  of  provisions, 
and  a  sufficient  number  of  Indians  to  carry  them,  Soto  departed 
in  the  middle  of  August  towards  the  south,  apparently  with  the 
intention  of  regaining  his  vessels,  which  were  expected  to  arrive 
at  Achusi  in  the  ensuing  month,  and  returning  in  them  to  Cuba. 

On  their  way  from  Co£a  the  Spaniards  passed  through  a 
populous  country,  containing  many  large  towns,  the  names  of 
which  correspond  in  some  cases  exactly,  and  in  others  very 
nearly  with  those  of  places,  since  found  occupied  by  the  Mus- 
coghee  or  Creeks.  Among  these  towns  were  Tallimuchase  and 
Itaua,  the  latter  on  a  large  stream,  which  may  have  been  the 
Etowah,  falling  into  the  Coosa;  farther  on,  they  reached  a  larger 
river,  probably  the  Coosa,  beyond  which  were  the  towns  of  Ul- 
libahali,  Toasi  and  Talise,*  all  fortified  by  palisades  of  logs, 
covered  with  clay,  as  many  places  in  that  part  of  America  were 
found  in  the  last  century.  Proceeding  thus  south-westward,  they 
crossed  another  river,  probably  the  Cahawba,  one  of  the  branches 
of  the  'Alabama,  and  entered  the  country  of  Tascalu^a,  where 

*Talisee  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  principal  tribes  of  the  Muscoghee, 
dwelling  on  the  Coosa.  Tali  is  the  commencement  of  many  of  the  names  of 
places  in  that  part  of  America.  Tallimuchase  may  have  been  Tallahassee,  a 
very  common  name,  signifying  old  fields.  Vestiges  of  many  of  these  fortified 
towns  still  remain  in  that  part  of  America,  in  the  shape  of  vast  ditches  and  • 
mounds,  particularly  at  Cahawba  on  the  Alabama,  and  at  the  sites  of  the  old 
Coweeta  and  Apalachoocla  towns  on  the  Chattahooche. 


1540.]  THE    SPANIARDS    AT    MAVILLA.  99 

they  were  received  with  dignity  and  courtesy  by  the  chief,  a  man 
of  large  stature,  who  supplied  them  plentifully  with  provisions, 
and  gave  them  a  number  of  his  subjects  as  porters.  Soto,  how 
ever,  being  doubtful  of  the  fidelity  of  this  prince,  seized  him  with 
several  of  his  family,  and  carried  them  off  as  hostages ;  and  the 
whole  party,  after  crossing  a  very  large  river,  probably  the  Tom- 
bigbee,  arrived  on  the  18th  of  October  at  a  town  called  Mavilla, 
which  seems  to  have  been  also  subject  to  the  king  of  Tascalup a. 

Tascalupa  was  no  doubt  the  northern  part  of  the  country  of 
the  Chactas,  traversed  by  the  Tuscaloosa  and  Tombigbee  rivers ; 
Tascaluf  a,  in  the  language  of  that  nation,  signifies  Black  Chief, 
and  may  have  been  the  name  of  the  proud  king  whom  the  Span 
iards  carried  as  a  hostage  to  Mavilla.  This  latter  place  seems  to 
have  been  situated  near  the  point  of  junction  of  the  Tombigbee 
and  Alabama  rivers;  a  tribe  of  Indians  called  Mowilla  was  found 
there  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  by  the  French,  who, 
in  consequence,  gave  the  name  of  Maubile  or  Mobile  to  the 
river  and  to  their  principal  settlement  in  that  quarter. 

Mavilla  contained  more  than  two  thousand  inhabitants  and  was 
surrounded  by  a  strong  wall  of  logs  and  earth ;  in  consequence 
of  which,  Luis  de  Moscoso,  the  second  in  command  of  the 
Spaniards,  advised  that  they  should  encamp  on  the  outside:  but 
the  Adelantado  was  determined  to  be  more  comfortably  lodged, 
and  the  whole  party  accordingly  established  themselves  in  the 
houses,  from  which  the  natives  were  ejected  with  little  ceremony. 
The  imprudence  thus  committed  was  soon  followed  by  disaster. 
The  king  of  Tascalu^a,  burning  under  the  sense  of  the  indignities 
offered  to  him,  entered  into  communication  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  town,  and  a  formidable  conspiracy  was  organized.  A  num 
ber  of  people  from  the  country  entered  Mavilla  unperceived,  and 
Ijjd  themselves  in  the  houses  not  occupied  by  the  Spaniards, 
whilst  others  were  assembled  on  the  adjoining  plain  as  if  for  a 
dance.  At  a  preconcerted  signal,  a  rush  was  made  by  the  In 
dians,  on  the  place  where  the  captives  from  Tascalufa  were 
confined ;  and  these  people  being  liberated  and  armed,  a  general 
attack  was  begun  on  the  unsuspecting  strangers,  several  of  whom 
fell  under  the  clubs  and  arrows  of  the  assailants,  ere  they  could 
arm  themselves  for  defence.  European  discipline  nevertheless 
prevailed.  The  Adelantado,  in  a  few  moments,  mustered  his 


100  DESTRUCTION    OF    MAVILLA.  [1540. 

men  outside  of  the  town,  and  then  laid  siege  to  it.  The  Indians 
fought  with  desperation,  but  they  fell  by  hundreds,  under  the 
balls  or  swords  of  the  Spaniards,  who  soon  overturned  their  for 
tifications,  and  confined  them  to  the  centre  of  the  place.  Mavilla 
was  then  set  on  fire,  and  the  besiegers,  watching  every  outlet, 
drove  back  the  wretched  natives  into  the  flames,  which,  in  a  few 
hours,  reduced  the  town  and  its  people  to  a  heap  of  ashes  and 
half  burnt  corpses.  According  to  the  accounts,  several  thousand* 
Indians  perished ;  but  this  was  no  doubt  an  exaggeration.  The 
conquerors  lost  eighteen  of  their  men,  and  many  horses;  besides 
which  a  large  number  were  wounded,  and  nearly  all  their  clothes, 
ammunition,  tools,  spare  arms,  and  other  valuable  articles,  having 
been  unavoidably  left  in  the  houses,  were  destroyed  or  greatly 
injured. 

The  Spaniards  remained  eighteen  days  near  Mavilla,  after  the 
destruction  of  that  place,  in  order  to  afford  time  for  the  recovery 
of  the  wounded,  and  to  save  such  articles  as  might  not  have  been 
rendered  entirely  useless  by  the  fire.  Soto,  meanwhile,  received 
certain  information  from  the  Indians  of  the  country,  that  his  ves 
sels  were  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Achusi,  distant  about  six  days 
march  from  Mavilla.  More  than  a  hundred  of  his  followers  had 
died  since  their  arrival  in  Florida,  and  every  rational  hope  of  ad 
vantage  from  this  expedition  must  have  disappeared:  yet  his 
proud  spirit  revolted  at  the  idea  of  returning  empty  handed 
among  his  countrymen  in  Spain  or  the  West  Indies,  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  days  in  poverty  and  obscurity ;  and  being  con 
vinced  that  his  men  would  abandon  the  enterprise,  if  they  should 
learn  the  arrival  of  the  vessels  in  their  vicinity,  he  ordered  Juan 
Ortiz,  the  interpreter,  to  conceal  the  circumstance,  and  took  his 
departure  with  the  whole  body  towards  the  north  on  the  18th  of 
November. 

After  that  period  the  wanderings  of  the  Spaniards  seem  to 
have  been  without  any  definite  object,  though  it  is  most  probable 
that  their  leader  may  have  held  out  to  them  some  inducement  in 
order  to  secure  their  obedience;  and  a  strong  proof  of  his  ability 
and  of  the  confidence  inspired  by  him,  is  afforded  in  the  fact  of 
their  submitting  to  be  thus  led  for  years  through  forests  and 
deserts,  exposed  to  every  species  of  danger  and  privation,  with- 
*  Garcilaso  carries  the  number  to  eleven  thousand! 


1541.]  THE     SPANIARDS    AMONG    THE     CHICASAS.  101 

out  any  attempt  at  resistance,  and  almost  without  a  murmur. 
Their  numbers  were  less  than  five  hundred ;  but  they  carried 
with  them  twice  as  many  Indians  of  both  sexes,  of  whom  the 
men  were  generally  kept  in  chains,  and  were  treated  with  great 
barbarity  by  their  unfeeling  masters. 

From  Mavilla,  the  Spaniai^s,  in  a  few  days,  reached  a  country 
called  Pafalaya,*  abounding  in  cane-brakes,  through  which  ran  a 
large  river,  probably  the  Tombigbee.  This  river  they  passed 
with  great  difficulty,  on  account  of  the  determined  opposition  of 
the  warlike  natives,  no  doubt  Chactas;  and  continuing  in  the 
same  direction,  they  crossed  another  stream,  and  entered  the 
country  of  the  Chica^a,  where  they  remained  until  March  of  the 
following  year.  These  Chica^a  were  of  course  the  Chickasas, 
who  were  found,  two  centuries  afterwards,  in  possession  of  the 
territory  between  the  heads  of  the  Tombigbee  and  Yazoo  rivers, 
now  forming  the  northern  part  of  the  State  of  Mississippi:  the} 
displayed  the  same  animosity  to  the  Spaniards  wrhich  was  in 
later,  days  shown  by  their  descendants  towards  the  French;  and 
many  encounters  took  place  between  the  parties,  in  the  course  of 
which,  several  of  the  invaders  lost  their  lives,  and  nearly  all  the 
arms,  ammunition,  and  other  articles  saved  at  Mavilla,  were  de 
stroyed  by  the  burning  of  their  quarters.  On  this  last  occasion 
perished  Francisca  Hinestrosa — the  only  Spanish  woman  in  the 
expedition — who  was  taken  in  labor  at  the  moment  of  the  attack, 
and  could  not  be  extricated  from  the  burning  town;  fifty  horses 
were  also  consumed,  together  with  the  greater  part  of  the  hogs, 
which  formed  the  principal  resource  against  famine. 

Soto,  however,  shewed  no  signs  of  discouragement:  forges 
were  set  up,  in  which  the  swords  injured  by  the  fire  were  re- 
tempered;  lances,  bucklers,  and  substitutes  for  saddles  were 
made,  and  thus  equipped,  the  party  resumed  their  journey  on  the 
25th  of  April.  They  were  constantly  harrassed  on  the  way  by 
the  Chicafa,  who  often  erected  temporary  forts  of  logs  at  points 
where  the  Spaniards  were  expected  to  pass;  but  all  these  obsta 
cles  were  overcome,  and  the  wanderers  at  length  passing  through 

*  In  the  languages  of  the  Chactas  and  Chickasas,  Paas  means  hair,  and  Falaya 
or  Faraa,  as  pronounced  by  different  tribes,  signifies  long.  Paa-faraah,  the  Long 
hair,  was  the  name  of  a  distinguished  Chacta,  chief,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  cen 
tury.  See  Adair's  History  of  the  American  Indians. 


J02  SOTO    CROSSES    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  [1541. 

the  countries  of  Alimamu  and  Quizquiz,  reached  the  Great  River  - 
the  Rio  Grande  del  Espiritu  Santo,  of  their  early  navigators — the 
Mico,  or  King  River  of  the  Indians — of  which  such  wonderful 
accounts  had  been  daily  received.  It  fully  equalled  their  antici 
pations  as  to  its  breadth,  depth  and  rapidity,  and  the  number  of 
trees  uprooted  and  borne  down  by  i^  current.  By  all  these  signs, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  the  Mississippi.* 

The  Spaniards,  most  probably,  reached  the  Mississippi,  near  the 
southernmost  of  the  cliffs,  now  called  the  Chickasa  Bluffs,  where 
the  flourishing  city  of  Memphis,  in  Tennessee,  is  situated  ;  as 
the  country  bordering  the  Great  River  for  more  than  two  hundred 
miles  farther  south,  is  rendered  inaccessible  on  the  east,  by 
marshes.  Soto  immediately  determined  to  cross  it,  and  four 
barges,  each  large  enough  to  contain  sixty  men  and  five  horses, 
wrere  accordingly  constructed,  in  which  the  passage  was  made 
early  in  June,  1541,  in  the  face  of  a  crowd  of  savages  assembled 
in  canoes,  to  bar  the  way  to  the  invaders.  At  the  place  of  their 
landing,  the  Spaniards  found  an  Indian  village,  from  wrhich  they 
proceeded,  in  their  boats,  for  some  distance  up  the  stream,  to  the 
towns  of  the  Icasqui ;  and  farther  north,  they  reached  another 
nation  called  Pacaha  or  Capaha,  among  whom  they  remained 
until  August.  An  exploring  party  was  meanwhile  sent  west 
ward,  to  enquire  for  Chisca,  or  for  some  route  to  the  Pacific;  but 
after  advancing  several  days  in  that  direction,  they  returned  with  a 
report,  that  the  country  consisted  of  vast  plains,  covered  with  grass 
so  high  that  the  horses  were  buried  in  it,  and  inhabited  only  by 
bands  of  Indians,  who  lived  by  hunting  the  hump-backed  cattle. 

It  would  be  an  unsatisfactory  task,  to  attempt  to  follow  the 
Spaniards  in  their  fruitless  wanderings  through  the  regions  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  during  the  summer  of  1541.  They  seem  to 
have  marched  westward,  as  far  as  the  range  of  highlands,  con 
taining  the  sources  of  the  White  river,  and  thence  southwardly 
along  the  base  of  that  ridge,  crossing  the  Arkansas  at  some 
distance  above  its  mouth,  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Washita. 

*  Mississippi  or  Meshasibi — compounded  of  Missi  or  Mesha  great,  and  Sipou 
or  Sibi  water — was  the  name  of  the  river,  among  the  Indian  nations  west  of 
Lake  Michigan,  from  whom  the  French  first  received  definite  accounts  of  it 
about  1670.  In  the  regions  of  the  upper  Ohio,  it  was  called  Namesi-Sipou  or 
Fish  river;  the  Chocta  name  is  Okinna-chitto,  meaning  the  Great  v, ater-path. 


1542.]  WANDERINGS    WEST    OF    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  103 

In  a  country  called  Cayas,  they  spent  a  month  near  a  lake  of 
very  hot  water,  most  probably  the  celebrated  Hot  Springs  in  the 
centre  of  the  pre'sent  State  of  Arkansas.  They  also  found  there,  as 
at  many  other  places,  copious  springs  of  salt  water,  from  which 
they  obtained  supplies  of  salt  for  themselves  and  their  horses: 
and  then  continuing  their  journey  in  the  same  course,  they 
reached  a  plentiful  region  called  Autiamque,  where  they  re 
mained  during  the  winter,  supporting  themselves  on  Indian  corn, 
prunes,  persimmons,  dried  venison,  and  other  savage  dainties,  of 
which  they  robbed  the  natives. 

To  this  period,  the  Spaniards  had  procured  information  as  to 
their  course,  from  the  natives  of  the  different  countries  traversed, 
through  their  interpreter  Juan  Ortiz,  who  being  well  acquainted 
with  the  language  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  peninsula  of  Florida, 
was  able,  with  the  aid  of  others  trained  by  him  on  the  way,  to 
keep  up  these  communications,  though  they  passed,  in  some 
cases,  through  twelve  different  interpreters:  but  he  unfortu 
nately  died  in  Autiamque,  and  they  were  thenceforth  constantly 
led  astray  by  those  on  whom  they  relied  for  instructions,  as  to  the 
character  of  the  countries  or  the  nations  before  them.  They 
thus  found  themselves  in  the  spring  of  1542,  without  any  means 
of  determining  whither  they  had  best  proceed ;  and  in  this  alter 
native,  they  had  only  to  make  their  way  back  to  the  Mississippi, 
which  they  did  by  following  a  stream,  probably  the  Washita, 
downward,  laboring  constantly  against  embarrassments,  fiom 
lakes  and  marshes.  Above  the  confluence  of  the  two  streams, 
and  between  them,  lay  the  fertile  and  populous  territory  of 
Guachoya,  the  sovereign  of  which  informed  the  Spaniards  of 
another  country,  called  Quigalta,  situated  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  at  the  distancoppf  three  days  journey  farther  south, 
and  governed  by  a  powerful  lord  of  the  same  name,  to  whom  all 
around  paid  tribute.  To  this  potentate,  Soto  sent  a  message, 
requiring  him  immediately  to  appear  and  do  homage  to  the  Son 
of  the  Sxin,  whom  all  obeyed:  the  Indian,  however,  replied  in 
the  same  tone,  professing  his  readiness  to  receive  the  strangers 
in  his  country,  as  friends  or  as  enemies,  according  to  their  con 
duct,  but  refusing  to  submit  to  the  self-styled  Son  of  the  Sun, 
until  he  should  have  proved  his  lineage  by  drying  up  the  Great 
River. 


104 


DEATH    OF    HERNANDO    DE     SOTO. 


[1542. 


The  Spanish  commander  would  no  doubt  have  proceeded  at 
once  to  chastise  this  audacious  savage,  had  he  been  in  a  condition 
to  do  so:  but  his  health  was  then  rapidly  declining,  in  consequence 
of  the  fatigues  to  which  he  had  been  so  long  and  constantly  ex 
posed;  and  he  was  seized  with  a  slow  fever,  which,  on  the  21st 
of  May,  1542,  terminated  the  life  of  "the  virtuous,  valiant  and 
renowned  Captain  Don  Hernando  de  Soto,  Governor  of  Cuba 
and  Adelantado  of  Florida,  whom  fortune,"  says  the  Portuguese 
narrative  of  his  expedition,  "raised,  as  it  does  others,  to  a  great 
height,  in  order  that  his  fall  should  be  the  more  remarkable." 
He  died  in  the  forty-second  year  of  his  age,  calmly,  and  with  a 
conscience  free  from  reproach ;  thanking  his  men  for  their  obedi 
ence  and  good  conduct,  in  the  many  trying  scenes  through  wrhich 
they  had  passed,  and  asking  them  only  to  pray  to  God  to  forgive 
his  sins,  and  receive  his  soul  into  eternal  glory. 

The  death  of  Soto  was  carefully  concealed  from  the  Indians, 
who  regarded  him  as  a  being  of  superior  intelligence — most  pro 
bably  as  the  incarnation  of  some  destroying  spirit — and  he  was 
buried  secretly  in  the  camp :  but  his  followers,  fearing  that  after 
their  departure,  some  indignity  might  be  offered  to  his  remains, 
disinterred  them  and  committed  them  at  midnight  to  the  current 
of  the  great  river,  the  noblest,  as  well  as  the  safest  of  sepulchres. 
The  king  of  Guachoya  was,  however,  convinced  of  the  death  of 
the  Spanish  chief,  and  he  came  to  the  camp  some  days  afterwards, 
bringing  two  of  his  subjects  to  be  sacrificed  in  honor  of  the  de 
ceased,  according  to  the  custom  of  his  nation;  Moscoso,  who 
succeeded  to  the  command,  thanked  him  for  his  attention,  assur 
ing  him  that  Soto  had  ascended  to  heaven,  and  ordered  the 
liberation  of  the  proposed  victims,  who  gladly  took  refuge  with 
their  liberators,  from  the  power  of  ttair  inhuman  master.  .  , 

A  careful  examination  of  the  narratives  of  the  expedition,  leads 
to  the  conclusion,  that  the  place  of  Soto's  death,  was  on  the  right 
or  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  present  State  of  Lou 
isiana,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Black  river.  When 
that  part  of  America  was  first  visited  by  the  French,  in  the  latter 
years  of  trie  following  century,  it  was  occupied  by  a  small  but 
powerful  nation,  called  the  Taensas,  nearly  opposite  to  whom, 
though  a  little  lower  down  the  stream,  were  the  Natchez,  another 
small  but  influential  confederacy  of  tribes,  afterwards  celebrated 


1542.]       MOSCOSO    IN    COMMAND    OF    THE    EXPEDITION.  105 

in  the  history  of  the  Mississippi  regions,  for  their  obstinate  resist 
ance  to  the  establishment  of  the  European  dominion  in  their 
country.  These  were  the  only  remarkable  nations  inhabiting 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  below  the  Ohio,  at  the  period  last 
mentioned ;  and  the  only  nations  moreover,  so  far  as  known, 
among  which  human  sacrifices  were  made,  at  the  funerals  of  dis 
tinguished  personages:  and  under  all  these  circumstances,  it  ap 
pears  to  be  more  than  probable,  that  the  Guachoya  and  Quigalta, 
mentioned  in  the.  accounts  of  the  expedition  of  Soto,  were  respec 
tively  the  countries  of  the  Taensas  and  the  Natchez. 

The  Spaniards  regarded  the  death  of  their  commander  with 
but  little  regret,  being  wearied  with  their  fatiguing  and  unprofita 
ble  wanderings,  and  anxious  to  return  among  their  countrymen  ; 
and  the  announcement  by  their  new  chief,  Moscoso,  of  his  in 
tention  to  lead  them  by  the  most  direct  route  to  Mexico,  was  re 
ceived  by  the  whole  body,  with  the  utmost  satisfaction.  With 
respect  to  the  route  to  be  pursued,  examinations  had  already 
shown  the  country  on  the  wrest  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  to  be 
nearly  impassable,  from  lakes  and  marshes;  and  on  the  other 
side,  they  would  be  exposed  to  the  enmity  of  the  daring  Quigal- 
tans,  Chk-kasas,  and  other  nations,  already  infuriated  against 
them  ;  while  large  vessels  would  be  required  to  effect  the  voyage 
to  New  Spain,  through  the  river  and  the  gulf.  It  was  therefore 
concluded,  that  they  should  take  a  south-west  course,  by  which 
they  might  reach  some  Spanish  settlement  in  a  few  months,  un 
less  they  should  be  arrested  by  deserts,  marshes,  or  enemies. 

They  accordingly  quitted  Guachoya  on  the  5th  of  June,  and 
marched  slowly  westward,  with  their  slaves  and  mistresses 
amounting  in  all  to  fifteen  hundred  persons.  After  crossing 
numerous  streams,  lakes  and  marshes,  they  arrived  in  the  coun 
try  of  Naguatex,  on  a  great  river ;  and  thence  continuing  their 
journey  through  the  territories  of  the  Nisione,  the  Nandacao,  the 
Naquiscoca,  the  Aays,  and  the  Na^acahoz,  corresponding  in 
name  as  in  position,  with  the  Nasoni,  the  Nadaco,  the  Natchi- 
toches,  the  Adayes,  and  the  Nacogdoches,  who  in  the  following 
century  occupied  the  countries  about  the  Red  river  and  the  upper 
Sabine,  they  in  September  reached  another  large  stream,  called 
the  Daycao,  no  doubt  the  same  now  known  as  the  Trinity.  An 
exploring  party  sent  forward  reported  the  country  to  be  a  desert, 
14 


106  FIRST  VESSELS  BUILT  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  [1543. 

inhabited  only  by  a  few  wandering  Indians,  who  lived  "like 
Arabs,"  on  roots,  fruits  and  game;  and  all  hopes  of  reaching 
New  Spain  by  that  route,  being  thus  destroyed,  the  whole  body 
returned  to  the  Mississippi,  on  the  banks  of  which,  they  passed 
the  winter,  in  a  country  called  Minoya,  a  little  north  of  their  for 
mer  quarters  in  Guachoya. 

During  this  winter,  many  of  the  Spaniards  died;  the  others 
were  occupied  in  building  vessels,  in  which  they  resolved  to  at 
tempt  the  passage  to  Mexico,  by  way  of  the  river  and  the  sea. 
For  this  purpose,  great  exertions  were  made :  timber  was  cut 
and  hewed  into  planks;  the  chains  of  their  Indian  captives  were 
struck  off,  and  converted  into  nails  and  bolts;  ropes  were  manu 
factured  of  the  bark  of  trees,  and  of  the  skins  of  buffaloes  and 
horses;  and  an  herb  like  hemp,  found  growing  in  the  country, 
supplied  oakum  for  caulking.  The  only  cooper  in  the  party  fell 
sick;  but  "  it  pleased  God  to  restore  him  to  health,"  and  he  made 
two  large  casks  for  each  vessel.  In  the  spring  of  1543,  they  wTere 
exposed  to  great  difficulties,  and  lost  much  time,  in  consequence 
of  the  sudden  rising  of  the  river,  which  overflowed  the  place  of 
their  habitation  and  labors  ;  they  however  preserved  their  vessels 
and  materials,  ^Jiough  they  were  unable  to  work  in  the  two 
months  during  which  the  flood  continued. 

In  the  meantime,  some  of  the  Indian  slaves,  thus  freed  from 
their  shackles,  concerted  a  plan  with  the  people  of  Minoya  and 
Guachoya,  for  murdering  the  Spaniards,  and  seizing  upon  the 
treasures,  in  the  shape  of  swords,  lances,  and  other  iron  articles, 
which  were  about  to  be  carried  away  by  the  hated  white  men : 
but  Moscoso  discovered  the  plot  in  time  to  prevent  its  execution ; 
and  he  effectually  stifled  all  such  projects,  by  driving  the  ringlea 
ders  from  the  camp  without  their  hands  and  noses.  The  slaves 
were  however  not  all  enemies  to  their  masters :  a  large  proportion 
were  women,  and  there  were  also  many  children,  the  fruits  of  the 
intercourse,  perhaps  in  some  cases  of  the  loves,  of  the  Spaniards, 
with  those  dark  daughters  of  the  wilderness;  and  relations  had 
been  thus  formed,  which  neither  party  desired  to  break.  The 
women  regarded  with  dismay,  the  preparations  for  the  departure 
of  their  lords ;  and  the  latter  addressed  many  petitions  to  Moscoso 
for  permission  to  carry  their  favorites  and  children  with  them : 
but  the  commander  was  inexorable  on  this  point,  insisting  that 


1543.]  VOYAGE    DOWN    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  107 

no  Indians  should  be  taken  in  the  vessels,  except  those  absolutely 
required  for  rowing. 

At  length  in  the  beginning  of  July,  1543,  the  Spaniards  had 
completed  seven  small  brigantines,  which  were  merely  large 
boats,  without  decks,  and  of  very  rude  and  slender  construction, 
and  some  canoes  for  the  transportation  of  their  whole  number, 
and  of  twenty- two  horses.  The  remainder  of  the  horses  and  the 
hogs  had  been  killed,  and  their  skins  were  used  to  cover  the  bot 
toms  of  the  boats,  and  for  other  purposes,  the  flesh  being  dried  for 
food  on  the  voyage ;  the  other  provisions  consisted  of  Indian  corn 
and  beans,  of  which  large  quanties  had  been  collected  by  forage 
on  the  natives  of  the  surrounding  country. 

The  preparations  being  thus  completed,  the  Spaniards,  three 
hundred  and  twenty-two  in  number,  embarked  on  the  2d  of  July, 
taking  with  them  one  hundred  Indians,  wrho  were  to  be  employed 
when  necessary,  in  rowing.  The  remaining  captives,  several 
hundred  in  number,  were  left  on  the  river  bank,  the  men  pouring 
forth  curses  on  their  departing  tyrants,  which  were  however 
drowned  by  the  shrill  wailings  of  the  deserted  women  and  chil 
dren.  The  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  was  attended  with 
some  dangers,  from  the  enmity  of  the  Indians.  The  chief  of 
Guachoya  invited  the  Spaniards  to  land,  as  they  passed  his 
town,  on  the  day  following  that  of  their  departure  from  Minoya; 
but  the  invitation  was  declined,  and  they  continued  onward,  with 
little  labor,  aided  by  the  force  of  the  current.  The  people  fled 
from  the  small  towns  as  soon  as  the  squadron  appeared  in  sight, 
and  their  corn  and  meat  became  the  prize  of  the  Spaniards ;  but 
on  the  third  day,  when  the  vessels  came  before  Quigalta,  a  hun 
dred  canoes,  filled  with  warriors,  were  seen  drawn  up  to  oppose 
their  progress.  Juan  de  Guzman  was  sent  by  Moscoso,  with 
fifteen  men  to  clear  the  way,  which  proved  to  be  no  easy  task ; 
for  the  Indians  leaped  into  the  water,  and  grappling  the  canoes 
overturned  them,  so  that  only  eleven  of  the  Spaniards  were 
saved :  Guzman  when  last  seen,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  savages, 
and  was  probably  sacrificed  before  the  temple  at  Natchez.  The 
brigantines  were  next  assailed,  and  their  men  having  no  arms, 
except  a  few  old  cross-bows,  and  no  means  of  protection,  other 
than  mats  and  hides  under  which  they  crept,  were  severely  galled 
by  the  arrows  of  the  Quigaltans :  the  mighty  current  of  the  stream 


108          THE    SPANIARDS    REACH    THE    GULF    OF    MEXICO.     [1543. 

however,  enabled  them  to  distance  their  pursuers,  and  no  other 
attack  was  made  upon  them  by  large  forces. 

At  some  distance  below  Quigalta,  the  Spaniards  landed  and 
killed  nearly  all  the  horses,  leaving  the  others  on  the  bank :  and 
they  dismissed  the  remainder  of  their  Indian  captives.  Con 
tinuing  their  voyage,  they,  on  the  seventeenth  day,  reached  the 
point  at  which  the  river  divides  into  separate  channels ;  and  the 
whole  party  taking  one  passage,  they  soon  beheld  opening  before 
them,  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  According  to 
their  computations,  they  had  navigated  on  the  great  river  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  from  the  place  of  their  depar 
ture  in  Minoya  to  the  sea;  agreeably  to  which,  their  brigari- 
tines  must  have  been  built  near  the  line  of  separation,  between 
the  States  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  that  is  about  two  hundred 
miles  above  the  city  of  Natchez  :  and  as  this  last  distance  seems 
to  correspond  with  that  which  they  might  be  supposed  to  have  - 
passed,  in  their  three  days'  voyage  from  Minoya  to  Quigalta, 
there  is  additional  reason  for  considering  the  last  mentioned 
place,  as  identical  with  Natchez. 

The  Spaniards  were  by  this  time  worn  down  with  rowing  and 
watching:  for  many  days  they  had  eaten  nothing  but  boiled  corn, 
which  was  distributed  at  the  rate  of  a  helmet  full  for  three  men  per 
day;  and  their  prospects  were  indeed  gloomy  and  embarrassing. 
At  the  mouth  of  the  river  they  anchored,  and  a  council  was  called, 
in  which  each  man  was  required  to  give  his  opinion  freely.  Juan 
de  Anasco,  "who  presumed  much  on  his  knowledge  of  naviga 
tion,"  remembered  that  he  had  seen  a  chart,  on  which  the  coast 
of  the  gulf  was  represented  as  running  from  east  to  west  to  the 
River  of  Palms,  and  thence  southward  to  Panuco ;  and  he  re 
commended  in  consequence,  that  they  should  strike  across  the 
sea  south-westward,  instead  of  losing  time  by  following  the  shore 
westward,  as  others  recommended.  Moscoso  was  of  the  same 
opinion;  but  the  great  majority  protested  against  it  on  account 
of  the  weakness  of  their  vessels,  their  want  of  charts  and  com 
passes,  and  the  insufficiency  of  the  casks  for  carrying  water, 
under  which  circumstances  either  a  storm  or  a  calm  might  prove 
fatal :  and  it  was  finally  agreed  that  they  should  take  the  other 
and  safer  course.  Accordingly,  on  the  18th  of  July,  they  weighed 
anchor,  and  were  soon  carried  out  to  sea  by  the  current  of  the 


1543.]  ARRIVAL    OF    THE     SPANIARDS    IN    MEXICO.  109 

river,  the  water  of  which  they  drank  until  the  next  day;  and  then 
began  their  voyage  along  the  coast  towards  Mexico. 

The  voyage  of  the  Spaniards  along  the  coast  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  westward  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  was  slow,  but 
comparatively  safe  and  easy.  They  obtained  fish  in  abundance 
for  food,  and  fresh  water  when  needed  from  streams  or  wells  dug 
near  the  shore ;  and  their  chief  annoyance  seems  to  have  pro 
ceeded  from  the  mosquitoes,  which  blackened  their  sails.  After 
some  days,  they  took  refuge  from  a  storm  in  an  extensive  arm  of 
the  sea,  probably  the  same  now  known  as  Galvezton  Bay;  and 
on  leaving  it,  they  were  rejoiced  to  find  the  coast  trending  south 
ward.  Sailing  in  that  direction  some  time  longer,  they  saw 
palm  leaves  floating  on  the  sea,  and  high  mountains  soon  after 
appeared  at  a  distance  in  the  land,  giving  assurance  of  their  ap 
proach  to  New  Spain.  At  length  they  reached  the  mouth  of  a 
river,  the  waters  from  which  were  muddy,  and  broke  with  vio 
lence  on  a  shoal;  and  entering  it,  they  beheld  Indians  in  the 
dress  of  their  countrymen,  who  informed  them  in  Spanish,  that 
the  river  was  the  Panuco.  Their  joy  on  receiving  this  announce 
ment,  was  beyond  expression  by  words,  and  burst  forth  in  tears, 
shouts  and  thanks  to  the  Almighty,  for  their  deliverance  from  the 
perils  by  which  they  had  been  so  long  environed.  Thus  ani 
mated,  they  rowed  with  redoubled  energy  up  the  stream,  and  on 
•the  llth  of  September,  1543,  they  landed  at  the  Spanish  settle 
ment  of  Panuco,  above  the  present  town  of  Tampico,  three  hun 
dred  and  eleven  persons  in  all  of  the  six  hundred  who  had  en 
tered  Florida  with  Soto  four  years  previous. 

The  wanderers  were  received  with  every  kindness  at  Panuco, 
and  an  express  was  sent  to  bear  the  news  of  their  arrival  to  the 
Viceroy  Mendoza,  who  immediately  invited  them  to  the  capital. 
Thither  they  accordingly  went,  but  the  spirit  of  adventure  which 
had  so  long  sustained  them,  was  not  to  be  suppressed  in  a  mo 
ment.  The  comparisons  which  they  made  between  Florida  and 
New  Spain  were  so  disadvantageous  to  the  latter  country,  that 
they  upbraided  their  officers  for  bringing  them  thither;  and  their 
only  prayer  to  the  Viceroy,  on  arriving  in  Mexico,  was  that 
he  would  afford  them  the  means  of  establishing  themselves  in 
Co^a  or  on  the  Great  river.  This  was,  however,  refused  by 
Mendoza,  who  had  been  already  nearly  ruined  by  expeditions 


110  DISCOVERIES    ON    THE    NORTH    PACIFIC.  [1542. 

for  discovery  and  settlements;  and  the  company  of  bold  Casti- 
lians,  who  had  so  long  faced  clangers  of  all  kinds,  together,  was 
dissolved.  Some  settled  in  Mexico  as  tradesmen  or  mechanics, 
and  some  entered  convents,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives  in  prayers  and  indolence;  but  the  majority  betook 
themselves  to  the  West  Indies,  and  thence  to  Peru,  where  new 
scenes  of  adventure  were  opened  by  the  contest  between  Gonzalo 
Pizarro,  and  the  president  Gasca. 

This  expedition  of  Hernando  de  Soto,  has  perhaps  occupied  a 
more  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  the  New  World,  than  it 
merited,  either  from  its  events  or  its  results.  The  extent  of  ter 
ritory  explored,  and  the  stern  determination  displayed  on  all  oc 
casions,  by  those  engaged  in  it,  were  indeed  remarkable :  nothing 
however  was  effected,  and  very  little  was  learned  by  the  expedi 
tion  ;  and  the  sameness  of  the  character,  the  productions  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  countries  traversed,  and  the  common-place 
nature  of  the  incidents,  render  vain  all  attempts  to  invest  the 
accounts  of  it  with  that  poetic  interest,  which  is  inseparable  from 
every  narrative,  however  inartificial,  of  the  proceedings  of  Cortes 
or  Pizarro. 

Whilst  this  expedition  was  in  progress,  another  large  body  of 
Spaniards  under  Francisco  Vazquez  de  Coronado,  had  been 
despatched  by  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  explore  the  regions 
north  west  of  that  kingdom,  and  to  conquer  the  rich  province  of " 
Cibola,  which  friar  Marcos  de  Niza  pretended  to  have  discovered 
near  the  36th  degree  of  latitude.  Three  years  were  spent  by  this 
party,  in  rambling  through  the  division  of  the  continent,  north 
east  of  the  Californian  Gulf,  traversed  by  the  rivers  now  known 
as  the  Yaqui,  the  Gila,  the  Colorado  and  the  upper  streams  of 
the  Rio  del  Norte,  and  the  Arkansas,  where  many  large  tracts  of 
fertile  and  agreeable  territory  were  found,  occupied  by  people  not 
absolutely  barbarous,  but  entirely  destitute  of  the  wealth  and  re 
finement,  attributed  to  them  in  the  accounts  of  the  imaginative 
friar.  Two  squadrons  were  at  the  same  time  employed  in  explor 
ing  the  seas  northwest  of  Mexico  ;  one  was  sent  by  Cortes,  under 
Francisco  de  Ulloa,  who  surveyed  the  coasts  of  the  Californian 
Gulf,  (then  called  the  Sea  of  Cortes  and  the  Vermillion  Sea,)  and 
afterwards  those  of  the  main  Pacific,  as  far  north  as  the  36th  degree 
of  latitude;  Hernando  de  Alarcon,  the  commander  of  the  other 


1542.]  DISCOVERY    OF    CANADA    BY    THE    FRENCH.  Ill 

vessels  despatched  by  the  Viceroy  Mendoza,  also  examined  the 
shores  of  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  penetrated  from  it  to  a 
considerable  distance  up  the  great  river  Colorado,  which  falls  into 
its  northern  extremity.  The  Pacific  coasts  were  subsequently  in 
1542,  more  minutely  surveyed  by  Juan  Rodriquez  Cabrillo,  who 
traced  them  beyond  the  43rd  parallel,  though  not  far  enough  to 
destroy  the  common  belief,  in  the  connection  of  the  new  conti 
nent  with  Asia.* 

The  Spanish  dominion  in  Mexico  was  in  the  meantime  be 
coming  daily  stronger,  and  more  assured,  under  the  wise  and 
firm  administration  of  Mendoza,  who  seems  to  have  been  admi 
rably  qualified  for  the  arduous  task  assigned  to  him,  of  establish 
ing  law  and  order,  in  place  of  the  violence  and  corruption  every 
where  prevailing.  The  conqueror  Cortes,  broken  in  health,  in 
spirits,  and  in  fortune,  had  retired  in  1540  to  Spain,  where  he 
spent  in  chagrin  and  neglect,  the  evening  of  a  life,  the  noon-day 
of  which  had  been  so  brilliant. 

At  this  period  also,  the  English  and  the  French  renewed  their 
attempts  to  explore  the  western  coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  in  search 
of  passages  to  India,  or  of  rich  or  fertile  countries,  for  conquest 
or  settlement.  Of  the  voyages  made  with  such  objects,  those 
most  worthy  of  note  were  conducted  by  the  French  under  Jacques 
Cartier,  who,  in  1534,  discovered  the  Gulf  on  the  western  side 
of  Newfoundland,  and  the  great  river  emptying  into  it,  and  gave 
to  the  adjacent  territory  the  name  of  Canada — for  what  reason  is 
not  exactly  known.  In  the  following  year  Cartier  made  another 
voyage,  in  which  he  penetrated  up  the  great  river,  then  first 
called  by  him  the  St.  Lawrence,  as  far  as  the  island  of  Hochelaga, 
where  the  city  of  Montreal  now  stands;  and  on  his  return  to 
France,  he  endeavored  to  obtain  from  his  sovereign  the  command 
of  an  armament,  for  the  occupation  and  settlement  of  the  country. 
Nothing  however  was  done  with  this  view,  until  1541,  when 
Cartier  was  entrusted  by  Francis  I.  with  a  squadron,  to  prose 
cute  the  exploration  of  the  St.  Lawrence;  but  the  possession  and 
right  to  settle,  were  conferred  on  Francois  de  Roberval,  with  the 
title  of  Lieutenant  General  of  Canada,  Saguenay  and  Hochelaga; 


*  Particular  accounts  of  the  expeditions  mentioned  in  this  paragraph  may  be 
found  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  History  of  Oregon  and  California,  by  the  author 
of  the  present  work. 


112  RESULTS    OF    SPANISH    DISCOVERIES.  [1543. 

an  arrangement  of  course  not  gratifying  to  the  feelings  of  the 
discoverer  of  those  territories.  Cartier  accordingly  sailed  to  the 
St.  Lawrence,  where  he  built  a  fort  called  Charlesbourg,  in  honor 
of  the  second  son  of  the  king,  near  the  spot  now  occupied  by 
Quebec;  and  Roberval  went  thither  in  1542,  with  a  number  o-f 
vagabonds  from  the  streets  of  Paris  as  colonists:  but  concert  be 
tween  the  two  commanders  was  impossible,  and  the  whole  project 
failed.  Roberval  made  another  attempt  for  the  same  purpose 
some  years  after,  with  no  more  success;  and  though  the  gulf  and 
river  of  St.  Lawrence  wrere  frequented  by  fishing  vessels,  from  all 
parts  of  western  Europe,  during  that  century,  no  farther  efforts 
were  made  to  occupy  their  coasts  until  1607. 

With  the  expedition  of  Hernando  de  Soto  through  the  coun 
tries  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  the  heroic,  or  rather  the  romantic 
age  of  American  history,  may  be  considered  as  ending.  It  was 
by  that  time  nearly,  if  not  fully  established,  that  no  nations,  un 
discovered  by  Europeans,  existed  in  the  New  World,  from  the 
conquest  of  which,  either  wealth  or  glory  could  be  gained ;  and  it 
appeared  to  be  no  less  commonly  admitted  that  the  western  conti 
nent,  if  not  actually  joined  to  Asia,  extended  uninterruptedly 
northward  as  well  as  southward,  beyond  the  latitudes  within 
which  any  channel  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 
could  be  advantageously  used  for  navigation  between  Europe 
and  India.  It  seems  also  to  have  been  generally  concluded, 
from  the  observations  made  in  the  expeditions  of  Narvaez  and 
Soto,  that  Florida  contained  no  mines  of  precious  metals;  and 
this  opinion  prevailed,  without  contradiction  by  facts,  for  more 
than  two  centuries  longer,  during  which  the  great  line  of  auri 
ferous  rocks,  stretching  south-westward  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Mobile,  continued  hidden  from  the  greedy  eyes  of  the  European 
race.  Had  a  single  lump  or  a  few  grains  of  gold  been  found  by 
Hernando  de  Soto,  while  traversing  the  hills  of  Co£a,  where  the 
veins  of  that  metal  are  richest,  the  fate  of  the  North  American 
continent  might  have  been  far  different:  the  territories  now  form 
ing  the  States  of  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  the  Carolinas,  might 
have  been  filled  with  a  Spanish  population;  and  on  the  shores 
of  Chesapeake  Bay,  might  have  arisen  a  Vera  Cruz,  or  a  Pa 
nama,  as  the  depository  of  the  trade  between  those  regions  and 
the  mother  country  beyond  the  Atlantic. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


1544    TO     1574. 


FIRST    SETTLEMENTS   OF  EUROPEANS   IN   FLORIDA — EXPEDI 
TION    OF  ARELLANO — SETTLEMENTS    OF    THE   HUGUENOTS 

UNDER   RlBAULT  AND   LrAUDOUINIERE EXTERMINATION  OF 

THE  FRENCH,  AND  OCCUPATION  OF  EASTERN  FLORIDA  BY 
THE  SPANIARDS  UNDER  MENENDEZ. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  ill  success,  which  attended  the  expe 
ditions  of  the  Spaniards,  under  Narvaez  and  Soto,  into  the  interior 
of  Florida,  persons  were  found  anxious  to  embark  in  similar  en 
terprises,  for  the  exploration  and  possession  of  that  country.  Two 
brothers,  Julian  de  Samafio  and  Pedro  de  Ahumada,  men  of  large 
fortune,  earnestly  entreated  the  emperor,  to  grant  them  commis 
sions  for  that  purpose,  immediately  after  the  return  of  the  survivors 
of  the  party  of  Soto  :  but  the  Council  of  the  Indies  opposed  the 
project,  on  the  ground  of  the  impolicy  of  then  extending  the 
Spanish  settlements  in  the  New  World,  and  their  applications 
were  in  consequence  refused. 

Attempts  were  however,  made  through  the  exertions  of  Bar- 
tolome  de  'las  Casas,  then  Bishop  of  Chiapas  in  Guatemala,  to 
establish  missionary  stations  on  the  coasts  of  Florida,  for  the  con 
version  of  the  natives  to  Christianity.  With  this  object,  the 
Dominican  friars,  Luis  Cancer,  Gregorio  Beteta,  and  others  of 
their  order,  landed  in  1549,  at  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  (proba 
bly  the  mouth  of  the  Suwannee  river :)  but  the  cruelties  commit 
ted  by  the  Spaniards,  under  Narvaez  and  Soto,  were  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  the  natives  of  that  region,  who  immediately  attacked 
15 


114  SHIPWRECKS    ON    THE    COAST    OF    FLORIDA.  [1553. 

the  missionaries,  and  put  several  of  them  to  death,  before  they 
could  regain  their  vessels.* 

The  war  between  France  and  Spain  in  the  meantime  continued 
with  little  intermission;  and  the  privateers  of  the  former  nation 
committed  great  ravages  on  the  maritime  commerce  of  Spain, 
particularly  by  attacking  the  richly  freighted  ships  proceeding 
from  Mexico,  of  which  many  were  annually  taken,  in  their  pas 
sage  from  the  gulf  to  the  Atlantic,  between  Cuba  and  Florida. 
A  number  of  Spanish  vessels  were  also,  at  the  same  period,  lost 
on  the  Florida  coasts,  along  which  they  were  carried  from  Vera 
Cruz,  by  the  current  of  the  gulf;  and  on  those  occasions,  the 
crews,  when  they  escaped  from  the  waves,  usually  died  of  star 
vation,  or  were  murdered  or  enslaved  by  the  Indians.  One  of 
these  ships  of  the  first  class,  carrying  a  thousand  persons,  was 
thus  wrecked  in  1553,  probably  near  the  entrance  of  the  large 
stream  now  called  the  Brazos :  three  hundred  of  her  crew  suc 
ceeded  in  reaching  the  shore,  along  which  they  endeavored  to 
make  their  way  back  to  Mexico ;  not  more  than  half  of  their 
number,  however,  arrived  at  Panuco,  the  others  having  perished 
from  hunger,  disease,  or  the  clubs  and  arrows  of  the  savages. 
The  particulars  of  their  journey  are  related  by  the  historians  of 
the  period;!  but  the  accounts  are  too  vague  on  geographical 
points,  to  afford  precise  ideas  as  to  their  route :  several  rivers  are 
mentioned,  as  crossed  by  the  travellers,  before  reaching  the  River 
of  Palms,  one  of  which  called  by  them  Rio  Bravo  or  Bold  river, 
may  have  been  the  same  now  known  as  the  Colorado ;  though  the 
name  of  Rio  Bravo  was  subsequently  applied  1o  the  larger  stream 
entering  the  gulf  farther  south,  near  the  26th  degree  of  latitude, 
which  seems  to  have  been  originally  called  the  River  of  Palms. 
At  this  period,  several  changes  took  place  among  the  sove 
reigns  of  western  Europe,  which  materially  affected  the  political 

*  Accounts  of  this  missionary  expedition  are  presented  by  Torquemada  and 
Barcia;  the  most  particular  is  however  that  contained  in  the  narrative  of  Friar 
Gregorio  de  Beteta,  addressed  to  the  Viceroy  of  New  Spain  immediately  on  his 
return  from  Florida,  of  which  a  French  translation  may  be  found  in  the  Collec 
tion  of  Ternaux  Compans. 

f  "Ensayo  Chronologico,  para  la  Historia  General  de  la  Florida" — A  Chron 
ological  History  of  Florida,  by  A.  G.  Barcia,  published  at  Madrid  in  1723,  under 
the  name  of  Gabriel  de  Cardenas  Z.  Cano — the  anagram  of  that  of  the  author. 
To  this  work  frequent  reference  will  be  made  in  the  ensuing  pages. 


1556.]      BEGINNING  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  WARS  IN  EUROPE.         115 

condition  of  those  countries,  and  their  relations  with  each  other, 
and  contributed  in  the  end  to  fix  the  destinies  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  New  World.  In  January  1547,  Henry  VIII.  of  England 
died,  leaving  his  throne  to  his  only  son  Edward  VI.  a  delicate 
boy  of  ten  years  of  age;  and  two  months  afterwards,  Francis  I.  of 
France,  was  in  like  manner  succeeded  by  the  Dauphin,  who 
reigned  as  Henry  II.  During  the  short  life  of  the  young  sove 
reign  of  England,  the  cause  of  religious  reform,  embraced  and 
protected  by  his  government,  seemed  to  be  firmly  rooted  in  that 
kingdom;  and  under  the  encouragement  thus  afforded,  the  same 
spirit  of  opposition  to  the  supremacy  of  the  church  of  Rome,  was 
rapidly  increasing  in  Germany,  France  and  the  Netherlands, 
notwithstanding  the  severities  exercised  towards  those  who  main 
tained  it,  by  Henry  II.  and  occasionally  by  Charles  V.  The 
hopes  of  the  Protestants,  as  the  reformers  called  themselves,  were 
however  checked  in  1553  by  the  death  of  Edward  VI  .and  the 
accession  of  his  eldest  sister  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Catherine  of 
Arragon,  to  the  English  crown;  and  they  were  reduced  to  despair 
in  the  following  year,  when  that  Queen. was  united  in  marriage 
with  her  cousin  Philip,  the  eldest  son  of  Charles  V.  and  heir-ap 
parent  to  the  Spanish  throne,  who  had  already  exhibited  the  most 
determined  and  ferocious  hatred  to  their  cause.  How  fully 
these  anticipations  of  evil  were  realized,  it  is  unnecessary  here  to 
show,  as  every  one  is  acquainted  with  the  dreadful  events,  which 
marked  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary  in  England;  and  still  more 
gloomy  were  the  prospects  of  the  reformers  rendered  in  1556, 
when  Philip  became  king  of  Spain,  in  consequence  of  the  ab 
dication  of  his  father,  whom  policy  had  led  on  many  occasions 
to  protect  them  against  the  efforts  of  their  enemies. 

The  dominions  of  Spain  in  the  West  Indies,  had  by  that  time 
assumed  a  form  and  consistency,  which  appeared  to  promise  dura 
tion,  as  well  as  advantage  to  the  mother  country ;  and  the  system 
on  which  those  possessions  were  to  be  governed,  had  been 
adopted  and  applied,  such  as  it  continued  with  little  variation,  as 
long  as  the  supremacy  of  Spain  was  preserved  in  the  American 
continents.  The  fundamental  principle  of  this  system  was,  that 
the  whole  of  the  New  World  except  Brazil,  belonged  of  right, 
exclusively  to  Spain,  and  should  be  kept  forever  in  entire  and 
absolute  dependance  on  that  kingdom;  with  which  view  foreign- 


116  SPANISH    GOVERNMENT    IN    THE    NEW    WORLD.        [1556. 

ers  were  to  be  excluded  from  those  territories,  and  the  Spanish 
settlements  were  moreover  to  be  restrained  in  the  development, 
of  their  resources,  so  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  their  be 
coming  independent  of  the  parent  State.  The  heaviest  penalties 
were  accordingly  declared  against  all  subjects  of  other  nations, 
who  should  visit  the  portion  of  the  New  World  thus  claimed  by 
Spain,  or  navigate  the  sea  in  its  vicinity ;  and  the  extension  of 
the  settlements,  and  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  and  with 
Spain,  were  regulated  by  peremptory  laws,  general  or  special,  all 
emanating  from  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  over  which  the  sove 
reign  himself  was  supposed  to  preside  on  all  occasions. 

Mexico  and  Peru  were  the  only  parts  of  the  New  World  found 
occupied  by  people  accustomed  to  regular- labor  :  and  as  in  those 
parts  moreover,  the  precious  metals  were  most  abundant,  the 
Spanish  government  directed  its  attention  to  them  in  prefer 
ence;  leaving  the  others  to  be  settled  at  such  points,  and  at 
such  periods  only,  as  circumstances  might  seem  to  indicate, 
in  order  to  secure  them  from  falling  into  the  power  of  foreign 
nations.  Establishments,  civil,  military  and  ecclesiastical,  were 
accordingly  formed  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  similar  to  those  in  the 
European  dominions  of  Spain ;  each  division  had  its  archbishop 
and  bishops,  and  over  each  was  placed  a  viceroy,  representing  the 
power  and  person  of  the  monarch,  and  nominally  absolute  in  his 
territories,  though  really  checked  in  all  respects  by  the  Audi- 
encia,  which  combined  the  attributes  of  a  high  court  of  appeals, 
a  board  of  administration,  and  a  council  of  government,  and  was 
responsible  only  to  the  sovereign.  The  other  political  divisions 
of  the  Indies,  were  governed  by  captains  general,  possessing  more 
limited  powers,  and  subject  in  many  cases  to  the  control  of  the 
viceroys. 

The  commerce  of  the  Indies  was  under  the  special  direction  of 
the  Casa  de  Contratacion,  or  House  of  Contracts,  established  at 
Seville,  from  which  port  all  shipments  were  made  for  those  coun 
tries,  and  at  which  all  vessels  coming  from  them  discharged  their 
cargoes ;  while  each  division  of  the  trans-atlantic  dominions,  had 
in  like  manner  its  exclusive  port  of  entry  and  departure,  and  its 
board  of  trade,  subordinate  to  the  House  of  Contracts.  The 
centre  of  commerce  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  was  Vera  Cruz,  which 
had  been  removed  in  1526,  from  the  place  selected  by  Cortes,  to 


1556.]  MINES    DISCOVERED    IN    NEW    SPAIN.  117 

one  farther  south,  at  the  entrance  of  the  river  Antigua,  twelve 
miles  north  of  the  city  now  bearing  that  name.  Treasures  and 
merchandize  to  and  from  Peru,  were  transported  across  the  isth 
mus,  between  Panama  and  Portobelo  :  the  dangers  and  difficul 
ties  of  the  navigation  through  Magellan's  Strait,  had  caused  that 
route  to  be  abandoned,  and  the  Spanish  government  had  become 
so  well  convinced  of  the  evils  which  might  result  from  the  disco 
very  or  opening  of  a  more  convenient  channel  of  communication 
between  the  two  oceans,  that  all  attempts  with  that  object,  were 
declared  to  be  penal  offences. 

The  Indian  provinces  received  from  Spain  all  articles  which 
could  be  brought  from  that  country;  and  in  return,  they  sent 
precious  metals,  sugar,  dye  woods,  and  a  few  other  tropical  pro 
ductions.  In  Mexico,  the  mines  of  silver  and  gold  found  in 
operation  at  the  time  of  the  conquest,  were  few,  and  the  amounts 
received  from  them  were  small,  in  consequence  of  the  imperfect 
mode  of  working  them :  many  others  were  however  soon  dis 
covered,  especially  in  the  unsettled  regions  north-west  of  the 
dominions  of  Montezuma,  which  vastly  increased  the  value  of 
those  possessions  to  Spain.  In  1550,  the  rich  silver  veins  of 
Zacatecas  were  opened;  five  years  afterwards,  Durango  was 
founded  by  Francisco  Ibarra,  in  a  district  abounding  in  mineral 
wealth;  and  the  mines  of  San  Juan,  Ainde,  and  Santa  Barbara, 
were  disc6vered  in  the  territory  then  called  New  Biscay,  near 
the  headwaters  of  the  River  Conchos,  which  were  long  regarded 
as  the  most  productive  in  the  world.  The  explorations  for 
this  object  were  usually  commenced  by  missionaries,  who  em 
ployed  the  influence  acquired  by  them  over  the  natives,  to  ob 
tain  a  knowledge  of  the  places  where  precious  metals  might  be 
obtained :  then  came  military  and  civil  officers,  who  examined 
the  spots,  and  selected  those  around  which  the  country  was  most 
fertile,  for  settlements;  and  on  such  spots,  colonies  were  estab 
lished,  by  means  of  arbitrary  draughts  of  natives,  from  the  old 
and  populous  provinces,  chiefly  from  Tlascala,  where  the  people 
were  remarkable  for  their  industry  and  docility.  The  same  sys 
tem  was  adopted  in  Peru,  with  equal  success  ;  and  the  Spaniards 
thus  possessing  in  those  two  divisions  of  their  Indian  empire,  as 
many  mines  as  they  could  conveniently  work,  and  regarding  gold 
and  silver  as  the  best  returns  which  could  be  derived  from  them, 


118  TREATMENT    OF    INDIANS    BY    THE    SPANIARDS.     [1556. 

discouraged  all  labors  not  tending  directly  or  indirectly  to  increase 
the  supply  of  the  precious  metals. 

In  the  West  India  islands  and  on  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  the 
continent,  south  of  that  archipelago,  where  settlements  were 
formed  by  the  Spaniards,  the  aborigines  had  nearly  all  disap 
peared,  the  laws  for  their  protection  having  proved  ineffectual  in 
every  respect,  and  the  labor  was  performed  by  negro  slaves,  of 
whom  large  numbers  were  annually  introduced  from  Africa,  in 
defiance  of  the  efforts  of  the  government  to  prevent  it.  In  Mexico 
and  Peru,  the  native  population,  though  much  reduced  since  the 
conquest  of  those  countries,  was  still  considerable;  and  every 
means  was  employed  by  the  Spanish  Government  to  preserve 
and  increase  it.  The  lands  were  all  owned  by  the  crown,  or  by 
individuals  to  whom  they  were  granted,  with  their  occupants,  on 
the  conditions  that  the  latter  should  be  treated  with  kindness  and 
forbearance  by  their  lords,  be  instructed  in  the  principles  and 
practice  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  be  induced  by  mild  means 
to  labor  diligently,  and  to  adopt  the  arts  and  usages  of  civilized 
life.  These  humane  provisions  were,  however,  disregarded  in 
Mexico  and  Peru,  as  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Indies ;  and  the 
natives  were  subjected  to  the  same  cruelty  and  rapacity,  which 
had  depopulated  Cuba  and  Hispaniola,  until  the  ecclesiastical 
power  had  been  seriously  engaged  in  their  behalf.  The  efforts 
of  Las  Casas  with  that  object,  have  been  already  mentioned  ;  he 
was  ably  seconded  by  the  Dominicans,  and  the  members  of 
several  other  orders;  and  in  1536,  a  Bull*  was  issued  by  Pope 
Paul  III.,  solemnly  declaring  the  aborigines  of  the  trans-atlantic 
countries  to  beamen"  (which  had  been  previously  questioned,) 
and  denouncing  as  criminal,  all  attempts  to  enslave  them,  or  to 
deprive  them  of  the  benefits  of  the  church.  From  that  period, 
the  condition  of  the  natives  was  improved,  particularly  in  Mexico, 
where  they  were  shielded  in  a  considerable  degree  from  personal 
ill  treatment, '  and  especially  from  being  sold,  or  transported 
against  their  will,  from  their  respective  districts,  except  for  the 
service  of  the  government,  which  reserved  to  itself  the  right  of 
levying  as  many  men  as  might  be  required,  for  working  mines  or 
forming  colonies. 

The  Spanish  population  in  Mexico  and  Peru  was  compara- 
*  See  the  Bull  in  Torquemada,  book  17,  chapter  5. 


1557.]      PHILIP    II.   ORDERS    FLORIDA    TO    BE    OCCUPIED.  119 

tively  small,  and  the  government  took  no  pains  to  increase  it, 
farther  than  might  be  absolutely  necessary  to  control  and  direct 
the  Indians,  whose  ignorance  and  apathy  rendered  them  the  best 
and  safest  instruments  for  all  the  purposes  contemplated  in  those 
countries.  The  other  divisions  of  the  empire  presented  few  in 
ducements  to  emigrants  who  would  not  work  themselves,  and 
had  no  capital  to  invest  in  negroes  :  the  returns  for  such  invest 
ments,  especially  in  Cuba  and  Hispaniola,  were,  however,  so 
great,  that  those  islands  might  be  considered  as  in  a  prosperous 
condition;  and  Santo  Domingo  and  Havanna,  were  rising  into 
importance  as  commercial  depositories. 

The  Spanish  government  considered  Peru  as  sufficiently  se 
cured  against  invasions  from  other  European  nations,  by  the 
difficulty  of  reaching  it.  Mexico  was,  however,  much  exposed 
to  such  dangers;  and  the  French  privateers,  which  continued  to 
infest  the  approaches  to  the  gulf,  might  open  the  way  to  more 
powerful  armaments  from  France  or  England.  This  was  clearly 
seen  by  Philip  II.,  who,  from  the  moment  of  his  assumption  of 
the  crown  of  Spain,  displayed  the  strongest  interest  in  his  trans 
atlantic  possessions ;  and  he  immediately  signified  his  accordance 
with  the  recommendations  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  that  naval 
stations  and  colonies  should  be  established  on  the  northern  coasts 
of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  as  the  most  effectual  means  of  averting  the 
anticipated  evils.  Orders  were  in  consequence  sent  in  1557,  to 
the  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  have  the  shores  of  Florida  on  the  At 
lantic,  as  well  as  on  the  Gulf,  carefully  examined;  and  to  occupy 
without  delay,  such  points  as  might  be  most  convenient  for  the 
contemplated  objects. 

The  Viceroy  Don  Luis  de  Velasco,  who  succeeded  Mendoza  in 
1550,  and  had  strongly  urged  the  occupation  of  the  Florida 
coasts,  lost  no  time  in  preparing  an  expedition  for  that  purpose ; 
and  whilst  the  equipment  of  vessels  and  the  collection  of  men 
were  in  progress,  he  despatched  Guido  de  las  Bazares,  a  pilot  well 
acquainted  with  the  navigation  of  the  gulf  to  select  a  proper 
spot  for  the  first  establishment.  Bazares  accordingly  sailed  from 
San  Juan  de  Ulua  in  September,  1558,  and  running  along  the 
coast  northward,  he  first  entered  and  examined  a  bay  in  latitude 
of  28|  degrees,  named  by  him  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  which 
was  most  probably  the  same  now  known  as  Matagorda  Bay,  in 


120  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    PHILIPPINE    BAY.  [1558. 

Texas,  where  the  French,  under  La  Salle,  attempted  to  form  a 
settlement  in  1685.  Thence  proceeding  eastward,  he  made  the 
land  of  Florida  in  latitude  of  29|  degrees,  and  passing  among  a 
group  of  islands,  situated  near  the  coast,  he  discovered  a  large 
bay,  opening  to  the  gulf  between  the  extremity  of  a  long  island 
and  the  mainland,  which  he  entered  and  suryeyed  with  care. 
This  bay,  according  to  the  report  of  Bazares,  extended  fifteen 
leagues  northward  from  its  entrance  to  its  extremity,  where  it 
received  a  great  river,  and  was  about  four  leagues  in  breadth ; 
the  depth  of  water  at  the  entrance  was  between  three  and  four 
fathoms,  and  somewhat  more  within :  the  banks  on  the  east  were 
high  and  red ;  on  the  other  sides  they  were  low,  and  covered  with 
trees  and  vines.  The  climate  was  agreeable,  and  appeared  to 
be  healthy;  the  surrounding  country  bore  every  mark  of  fertility; 
and  the  pilot  conceiving  that  he  had  found  what  was  required, 
took  possession  of  the  place,  which  he  named  the  Philippine 
Bay,  in  honor  of  his  sovereign,  and  returned  with  the  news  to 
Vera  Cruz  before  the  end  of  the  year.* 

The  viceroy  being  satisfied  with  the  account  presented  by 
Bazares,  of  the  advantages  of  the  Philippine  Bay,  determined 
that  a  colony  should  be  immediately  planted  on  it ;  and  with  that 
object,  a  large  fleet  departed  from  Vera  Cruz  in  June  1559,  car 
rying  more  than  fifteen  hundred  persons  of  all  classes,  under  the 
command  of  Tristan  de  Luna  y  Arellano,  who  had  been  ap 
pointed  Governor  and  Captain  General  of  Florida.  On  the  28th 
of  the  month,  these  ships  were  off  the. mouth  of  the  river  of  Es- 
piritu  Santo,  or  the  Mississippi;  and  being  thence  driven  east 
ward,  they  on  the  2d  of  July  saw  the  land  of  Florida,  in  latitude 
of  29£  degrees,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  Miruelo,  which 
was  most  probably  the  same,  now  called  the  Bay  of  St.  Andrew, 
a  little  west  of  the  Apalachicola  river.  There  they  remained  at 
anchor  until  the  17th,  when  they  again  set  sail,  and  running 
along  the  coast  to  the  west,  they  soon  reached  the  Philippine 
Bay,  where  the  horses  and  the  greater  part  of  the  soldiers  and 
colonists  were  immediately  landed.  Arellano  however,  was  by 

*  A  French  translation  of  the  report  of  Bazares  to  the  Viceroy  Velasco,  is  given 
by  Ternaux  Compans  in  his  "  Recueil  de  Voyages,"  from  which  an  English  transla 
tion  may  be  found  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  under 
the  letter  A. 


1559.]  EXPEDITION    OF    ARELLANO    TO    FLORIDA.  121 

no  means  so  well  pleased  with  this  place,  as  the  pilot  had  been : 
he  found  it  difficult  of  access  from  the  narrowness  and  want  of 
depth  of  the  channel  at  its  entrance ;  and  being  persuaded  that  it 
must  be  inferior  in  all  respects,  to  the  port  of  Achusi,  discovered 
by  Maldonado  in  the  expedition  of  Soto,  be  determined  to  remove 
his  people  to  the  latter  place,  which  he  knew,  from  the  accounts 
of  that  expedition,  to  be  situated  at  a  short  distance  eastward. 
The  vessels  accordingly  proceeding  twenty  leagues  along  the 
coast  in  that  direction,  found  and  entered  the  harbor  of  Achusi, 
on  the  15th  of  August,  where  they  were  soon  joined  by  the  sol 
diers  and  settlers  who  had  marched  thither,  across  the  country; 
and  the  governor  being  satisfied  with  the  results  of  his  survey, 
ordered  the  stores  and  materials  to  be  landed  on  the  shore  of 
the  harbor,  the  name  of  which,  was  changed  to  that  of  Santa 
Maria,  in  honor  of  the  arrival  of  the  fleet,  on  the  day  of  the  As 
sumption  of  the  Holy  Virgin.  * 

The  bay  of  Achusi  or  Santa  Maria,  described  in  the  report  of 
Arellano,  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  Indies,  opening  to  the  Mexi 
can  Gulf  in  latitude  of  30  degrees  20  minutes,  with  red  cliffs 
traversed  by  gullies  on  the  western  side  of  its  entrance,  would 
from  those  signs  alone  be  recognised  as  the  same  now  called 
Pensacola  Bay.  The  Philippine  bay  twenty  leagues  farther  west, 
twelve  leagues  in  length,  by  three  or  four  in  breadth,  communi 
cating  with  the  gulf  between  an  island  and  the  mainland,  with 
high  red  banks  on  the  eastern  side,  and  a  large  river  entering  its 
northern  extremity,  could  be  no  other  than  the  Bay  of  Mobile. 
Of  the  identity  of  the  harbor  of  Achusi  or  Santa  Maria,  with 
Pensacola  Bay,  history  leaves  no  room  for  doubt,  as  will  be 
hereafter  shown  in  the  account  of  the  definitive  occupation  of 
the  place,  by  the  Spaniards  in  1693,  agreeably  to  orders  founded 
on  the  descriptions,  given  by  Arellano. f  The  particulars  above 
mentioned,  respecting  the  Philippine  bay,  will  apply  to  no 
other,  adjoining  the  Mexican  Gulf,  than  the  bay  of  Mobile.  The 
islands  passed  by  Bazares  on  his  way  from  the  mouth  of  the  river 

*Ternaux  Compans  in  his  Collection  also  presents  a  French  version  of  a  letter 
sent  by  Arellano  to  the  Viceroy  from  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  containing  the 
account  of  his  voyage  to  that  place.  Barcia's  Ensayo  Chronologico,  is  the  princi 
pal  authority  for  the  remaining  particulars  of  this  expedition,  of  which  no  notice 
whatsoever  has  been  found  in  any  work  as  yet  published  in  the  English  language. 

•f  See  chapter  viii.  of  this  History. 

16 


122      SPANISH    FLEET    DESTROYED    IN    PENSACOLA    BAY.    [1559. 

of  Espiritu  Santo,  are  the  well  known  group  now  called  the 
Chandeleurs,  Horn  island,  Ship  island,  and  others  stretching  in 
a  line,  along  the  coast  from  the  Mississippi,  north-eastward,  and 
ending  with  Dauphin  island,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of 
Mobile. 

Arellano,  so  soon  as  he  had  made  the  dispositions  above  men 
tioned,  at  the  bay  of  Santa  Maria,  despatched  a  vessel  to  Vera 
Cruz,  to  bear  accounts  of  what  had  been  done,  and  to  request 
farther  supplies  of  provisions,  to  be  sent  to  that  place.  But  one 
of  those  hurricanes,  which  render  the  Mexican  Gulf  in  the  month 
of  August,  the  most  unsafe  of  all  the  American  waters,  immedi 
ately  afterwards  sw^ept  over  the  harbor,  and  in  a  few  hours,  every 
vessel  was  sunk  or  driven  ashore.  The  Spaniards  were  dismay 
ed  by  this  terrible  misfortune;  their  commander  however  assured 
them,  that  additional  supplies  would  soon  arrive  from  Mexico  , 
and  having  collected  all  that  could  be  retrieved  from  the  wrecks, 
he  caused  huts  to  be  built  on  the  margin  of  the  bay,  for  the  tem 
porary  accommodation  of  the  people,  until  a  large  party  which 
had  been  despatched  under  his  sergeant  major,  should  have  se 
lected  a  spot  in  the  interior,  for  a  settlement. 

The  sergeant  major  after  rambling  with  his  party  for  forty  days 
through  a  country,  of  the  most  uninviting  character,  uncultivated 
and  apparently  unpeopled,  at  length  reached  a  large  river,  and 
following  its  course  for  sometime  longer,  they  arrived  at  a  vil 
lage,  from  which  the  inhabitants  fled  on  the  approach  of  the 
strangers.  Some  provisions  were  however  found  there,  and  one 
of  the  Indians  who  returned  stated  that  the  ^village  was  called 
Nanipacna,  and  that  it  had  been  destroyed  many  years  before, 
by  people  resembling  the  Spaniards,  in  color  and  appearance. 
The  exploration  was  continued  for  some  distance  farther;  and  no 
place  being  found  more  promising  for  a  settlement,  than  Nani 
pacna,  messengers  were  sent  to  inform  the  governor  of  the  result 
of  the  search.  The  people  at  the  bay  had  in  the  meantime  con 
sumed  all  their  provisions,  and  the  surrounding  country  being  a 
sandy  desert,  they  were  in  danger  of  starvation,  in  case  they 
should  remain  there  much  longer.  The  governor  therefore  de 
termined  immediately  to  remove  with  the  whole  body  to  Nani 
pacna,  at  which  place  they  accordingly  established  themselves, 
in  the  latter  part  of  November. 


1560.J       WANDERINGS  OF  THE   SPANIARDS  IN  FLORIDA.  123 

Nanipacna  was  distant  forty  leagues  from  the  Bay  of  Santa 
Maria  or  Pensacola,  and  was  probably  a  Muscoghee  or  Chacta 
village,  on  the  Alabama  river.*  The  Spaniards  passed  a  year 
there,  in  the  utmost  misery,  subsisting  chiefly  on  roots,  and 
acorns.  In  the  meantime,  the  sergeant  major  with  two  hundred 
men,  had  been  sent  to  seek  for  the  country  of  Co£a,  of  which 
the  followers  of  Soto  had  brought  back  such  flattering  accounts; 
and  after  a  long  march,  they  discovered  it,  on  the  upper  waters 
of  a  large  river,  called  by  the  natives  Ollibahali,  which  was  pro 
bably  the  Coosa  branch  of  the  Alabama.  The  inhabitants  were 
then  at  war  with  the  Napochies,  dwelling  on  another  river  called 
Ochechiton,  or  Great  Water,  f  and  the  Spaniards  having  joined 
the  Cohans  in  an  expedition  against  their  enemies,  the  latter 
were  reduced  to  submission,  and  obliged  to  pay  a  heavy  tribute 
in  Indian  corn,  beans,  and  bears'  grease,  of  which  the  allies  of 
the  conquerors  took  the  lion's  share.  The  Great  Water,  was 
supposed  to  be  the  river  of  Espiritu  Santo ;  but  as  it  was  fre 
quently  forded  by  the  combatants,  during  the  war,  it  was  more 
probably  the  Tennessee,  at  or  near  the  Mussel  Shoals,  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  State  of  Alabama. 

On  his  return  from  this  expedition,  the  sergeant  major  sent 
messengers  to  the  governor,  to  advise  him  not  to  come  to  Coca, 
as  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  subsistence  for  the  people  in 
that  country,  the  productiveness  of  which  had  been  much  exag 
gerated  by  the  followers  of  Soto ;  but  ere  they  arrived  at  Nani 
pacna,  the  Spaniards  had  quitted  the  place,  and  returned  to  the 
Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  Whither  the  messengers  in  consequence  pro 
ceeded.  Arellano  had  shortly  before  caused  two  of  the  stranded 
vessels  to  be  repaired,  in  which  some  of  his  officers  and  priests 
had  sailed  for  Havanna  in  order  to  entreat  for  assistance;  and  he 
was  anxiously  awaiting  supplies,  on  the  receipt  of  which,  he  had 
determined  to  march  with  the  whole  body  to  Coca,  and  form  a 

*  Nanipacna  means  the  top  of  a  hill  among  the  Chocta  and  Muscoghee  tribes  of 
the  Alabama;  Pacana  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  Muscoghee  tribes,  dwelling  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Alabama,  just  below  the  junction  of  the  Coosa  and  Talipoosa 
branches,  not  far  from  the  present  town  of  Montgomery  in  Alabama,  distant 
about  140  miles  from  Pensacola  bay. 

tThis  Indian  appellation  is  given  with  more  than  usual  correctness  in  the 
Spanish  accounts ;  Oke  signifying  water,  and  Chitto,  great,  in  the  languages  of 
the  Muscoghee  and  Choctas. 


124          FLORIDA  ABANDONED  BY  ARELLANO.       [1561. 

settlement  there.  The  greater  part  of  the  Spaniards  were,  how 
ever,  disgusted  with  the  enterprise,  and  headed  by  one  of  the 
higher  officers,  they  insisted  on  being  carried  back  to  Mexico,  or 
the  West  Indies,  by  the  first  opportunity.  This  disposition  was 
increased  by  the  accounts  of  the  messengers  respecting  the  coun 
try  to  which  it  was  proposed  to  conduct  them ;  and  it  proceeded 
so  far,  that  Arellano,  in  order  to  prevent  mutiny,  was  obliged  to 
recall  the  sergeant  major  and  his  party.  After  some  months 
longer  spent  in  this  wretched  state,  they  were  at  length  greeted 
in  the  spring  of  1561,  by  the  arrival  of  a  squadron  sent  for  their 
relief  from  Vera  Cruz,  under  Angel  de  Villafafie.  The  governor 
thereupon  renewed  his  preparations  for  a  settlement  in  Cof  a,  to 
which  country  he  endeavored  by  persuasions  and  threats  to  in 
duce  his  men  to  follow  him :  but  he  was  obliged  in  the  end,  to 
yield  to  their  desires ;  and  though  he  with  some  of  the  soldiers, 
remained  until  the  latter  part  of  the  year  in  Florida,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  sent  for  the  occupation  of  that  territory,  em 
barked  with  Villafane  and  were  landed  by  him  at  Havanna. 

Villafafie  had  been  ordered  also  to  examine  the  Atlantic  coasts 
of  Florida  in  search  of  places  for  colonies  on  that  side;  and  ac 
cordingly  after  landing  the  people  at  Havanna,  he  sailed  along 
the  shore  of  the  continent  northward,  and  on  the  27th  of  May, 
entered  the  river  of  Santa  Helena,  the  latitude  of  which  he  placed 
nearly  in  33  degrees.  Not  considering  that  spot  suitable,  he  con 
tinued  his  exploration,  and  on  the  2d  of  June  he  reached  a  point 
of  land  in  34  degrees  then  known  to  Spanish  navigators  as  Cape 
San  Romano,  a  little  beyond  which  he  found  a  large  river,  sup 
posed  by  him  to  be  the  same  called  the  Jordan  by  Vazquez  de 
Ayllon.  After  leaving  this  point,  he  reached  another  in  35  de 
grees,  named  by  him  Cape  Trafalgar,  near  which  he  was  in  dan 
ger  of  shipwreck  on  the  shoals  surrounding  it ;  and  fearing  to 
proceed  farther,  he  returned  to  the  West  Indies,  with  a  very  un 
favorable  account  of  those  coasts,  and  of  the  adjoining  countries. 
Agreeably  to  the  latitudes  above  mentioned,  the  river  of  Santa 
Helena  would  have  been  identical  with  the  Santee,  and  Cape 
San  Romano  with  Cape  Fear;  Cape  Trafalgar,  as  described  in  the 
accounts  of  the  voyage,  presents  all  the  terrible  characteristics  of 
Cape  Hatteras. 

Thus  ended  the  third  great  expedition  of  the  Spaniards  through 


1561.]    MENENDEZ  ASKS  THE   GOVERNORSHIP  OF  FLORIDA.      125 

the  territories  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  which,  though  con 
ducted  on  a  scale  of  equipment  far  superior  to  those  of  Narvaez 
and  Soto,  has  remained  almost  unnoticed  by  historians.  The 
results  were  not  calculated  to  encourage  farther  efforts  for  the 
same  objects;  yet  the  spirit  of  adventure  in  the  New  World  was 
not  quenched,  and  there  were  still  found  persons  ready  to  risk 
fame  and  fortune  in  enterprises  of  that  kind,  with  the  desperate 
hope  of  attaining  some  more  eminent  position. 

The  principal  candidate  for  the  command  of  another  arma 
ment,  to  be  employed  in  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  Florida, 
was  Don  Pedro  Menendez,  or  Melendez,  or  Mendez,  as  his  name 
is  variously  written,  a  native  of  Aviles  in  Asturia,  a  man  of  that 
truly  iron  frame  of  mind,  resolute,  rapacious,  ruthless  and  per 
severing,  of  which  Spain  has  at  all  times  produced  so  many, 
and  has  sent  forth  so  many  for  the  affliction  of  the  New  World. 
This  person,  after  a  long  series  of  adventures  on  sea  and  on 
land,  had  in  1557  been  raised  by  Philip  II.  to  the  command  of 
the  India  fleet,  in  which  capacity  he  still  farther  distinguished 
himself,  by  skill  and  prowess,  as  well  as  by  devotion  to  the  will 
of  the  monarch ;  and  on  learning  the  news  of  the  failure  of  the 
expedition  of  Arellano,  he  applied  for  the  governorship  of  Florida 
and  the  direction  of  forces  for  its  occupation,  with  the  hope  not 
only  of  acquiring  wealth  and  reputation,  but  also,  and  principally 
of  recovering  his  onty  son,  who  had  been  wrecked  near  the  south 
ern-extremity  of  the  peninsula  in  1550,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
still  living  in  captivity  among  the  natives.  His  propositions, 
however,  remained  without  effect  until  1564,  when  circumstances 
induced  the  Spanish  government  to  accept  them.  In  order  to 
render  these  circumstances  perfectly  intelligible,  it  will  be  con 
venient  to  present  a  concise  view  of  some  of  the  most  important 
events,  which  occurred  in  Europe  whilst  the  expedition  of  Arel 
lano  was  in  progress. 

The  first  of  these  events  was  the  death  of  Mary  Queen  of 
England,  the  wife  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  and  the  accession  of 
her  sister  Elizabeth  to  the  throne  in  November,  1558.  The 
war  between  those  two  nations  and  France  was  ended  in  April 
following,  by  the  treaty  of  Gateau  Cambresis,  when  a  new  alli 
ance  was  formed  between  the  sovereigns  of  France  and  Spain, 
which  was  cemented  by  the  marriage  of  Philip  II.,  to  the  daugh- 


126 


ENGLISH  FREE-TRADERS  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES.         [1561. 


ter  of  Henry  II.  In  the  course  of  the  festivities  on  the  latter 
occasion,  the  French  King  was  accidentally  killed ;  his  eldest  son 
and  successor,  Francis  II.,  did  not  long  survive;  and  before  the 
end  of  1560  the  crown  of  France  rested  on  the  head  of  Charles 
IX.,  another  son  of  Henry  II.,  then  only  ten  years  of  age, 
whose  demoniacal  disposition  had  already  manifested  itself  by 
various  acts  of  malevolence. 

The  accession  of  Elizabeth  to  the  throne  of  England  dissolved 
the  forced  connection  between  that  country  and  Spain ,  and  the 
mutual  hatred  of  their  sovereigns  soon  burst  forth.  The  English 
queen  excited  her  subjects  openly  as  well  as  secretly  to  contra 
vene  the  prohibitory  regulations  of  Spain  with  regard  to  settle 
ment  and  commerce  in  the  New  World;  and  the  West  Indian 
seas  were  in  consequence  soon  filled  with  English  vessels,  en 
gaged  in  trade  with  the  people  of  the  contiguous  coasts,  which 
they  claimed  the  right  to  carry  on,  in  virtue  of  a  treaty  con 
cluded  in  1529  between  Henry  VIII.  and  Charles  V.  The  prin 
cipal  business  of  these  Free-traders,  as  they  afterwards  termed 
themselves,  was  the  capture  of  negroes  on  the  African  coasts, 
and  their  transportation  to  the  Spanish  colonies,  in  the  islands 
and  the  mainland  of  the  West  Indies  and  Mexico,  where  they 
were  sold  at  enormous  prices  to  the  planters,  generally  with  the 
connivance  of  the  authorities ;  and  in  this  pursuit,  Hawkins, 
Drake,  Cavendish,  and  many  others  who  afterwards  arose  to  dis 
tinction  as  navigators,  laid  the  foundation  of  their  fame  and  for 
tune.  Against  these  interlopers,  all  the  efforts  of  the  Spanish 
government  proved  ineffectual;  its  most  trusted  officers  were 
corrupted,  and  its  ships  and  even  forts  were  attacked,  and  plun 
dered  by  the  daring  English,  whensoever  any  attempt  was  made 
to  interfere  with  the  commercial  liberty  which  they  insisted  on 
maintaining. 

The  overthrow  of  the  papal  authority  in  England  by  queen 
Elizabeth,  also  contributed  to  widen  the  breach  between  her  and 
Philip  II.  In  France,  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  (as 
the  partizans  of  religious  reform  were  then  called,)  had  only 
served  to  increase  their  numbers,  and  their  boldness ;  and  nearly 
one-third  of  the  population  of  the  kingdom,  including  many  of 
the  highest  nobles  and  even  princes  of  the  royal  family,  were 
found  in  their  ranks.  Under  such  circumstances,  while  France 


1556.]  FRANCE  ANTARCTIQUE.  127 

was  at  war  with  both  Spain  and  England,  the  reformers  were 
enabled  to  maintain  to  a  certain  extent,  their  freedom  of  religious 
opinion  and  worship;  but  after  the  peace,  when  Philip  II.  ac 
quired  an  influence  in  the  government  of  their  country,  the  pen 
alties  against  them  were  revived,  and  they  soon  saw,  that  their 
only  security  was  to  be  found  in  their  swords.  During  the  short 
reign  of  Francis  II.,  the  two  parties,  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
were  brought  distinctly  in  view  of  each  other;  and  upon  his 
death,  a  struggle  was  openly  begun,  for  the  possession  of  the 
boy  king  Charles  IX.,  between  the  Catholics,  under  the  queen 
mother,  Catherine  de  Medici,  and  the  Guise  family  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  Huguenots  headed  by  the  Admiral  de  Coligny  and 
the  Prince  of  Conde  on  the  other,  which  soon  involved  the  whole 
country  in  civil  war.  The  Catholics  had  the  advantage  in  num 
bers,  in  wealth,  in  the  prestige  of  royalty,  and  in  the  support  of 
the  king  of  Spain,  with  whom  the  extirpation  of  heretics  was 
the  ruling  passion :  the  reformers  received  some  aid  from  Eng 
land,  yet  no  more  than  was  necessary  to  prevent  their  extinction; 
for  Elizabeth,  a  Protestant,  from  pride  and  policy,  rather  than 
from  conviction,  was  not  inclined  to  encourage  subjects  in  rebel 
lion  against  their  liege  lords,  and  had  in  view  only  the  advance 
ment  of  her  own  kingdom,  by  keeping  the  French  embroiled  at 
home. 

Some  time  before  this  period,  the  chiefs  of  the  Protestant  party 
in  France,  had  endeavored  to  found  a  colony  in  the  New  World, 
to  which  their  brethren  could  retire,  if  forced  by  persecution  in 
Iheir  own  country ;  and  profess  their  opinions,  and  practise  their 
worship  in  freedom.  With  this  object,  an  expedition  was  fitted 
out  in  1556,  by  Coligny  and  Calvin,  and  placed  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Nicolas  Durand  de  Villegagnon,  who  made  a  settlement 
called  Fort  Coligny,  on  an  island  in  the  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
and  took  possession  of  the  whole  country,  bestowing  on  it  the 
appellation  of  France  Antarctique.  Reinforcements  were  sent 
to  this  colony  from  France,  and  it  was  maintained  until  1560, 
when  it  was  broken  up  by  the  Portuguese,  under  the  celebrated 
Mem  de  Sa,  aided  by  the  treachery  of  Villegagnon,  who  had 
been  corrupted  by  the  Duke  of  Guise,  during  a  visit  made  to 
France  in  the  previous  year. 

Another  attempt  was  then   made  for  the   same  purpose  by 


128 


FIRST    HUGUENOT    EXPEDITION    TO    FLORIDA. 


[1562. 


Coligny,  who  having  succeeded  in  engaging  the  young  king,  either 
really  or  seemingly,  in  its  favor,  sent  out  two  vessels  from  Havre, 
in  February,  1562,  with  soldiers  and  colonists  of  the  reformed 
faith,  to  found  a  settlement  on  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  French  on  this  occasion,  avoiding  alike  the  frozen  regions 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  Cartier  and  Roberval  had  failed  in 
their  endeavors  to  establish  themselves,  and  the  burning  shores 
of  Brazil,  where  they  would  be  exposed  to  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Portuguese,  took  their  course  to  Florida,  in  which  they 
considered  the  prospect  of  success  more  flattering;  and  in  the 
end  of  April  they  made  the  land,  somewhere  near  the  present 
town  of  St.  Augustine.  Thence  they  sailed  along  the  shore 
northward,  occasionally  landing  and  communicating  with  the  na 
tives;  and  in  this  way  they  observed  the  mouths  of  several  large 
streams,  of  which  the  one  named  by  them  the  River  of  May,  from 
its  discovery  on  the  first  day  of  that  month,  is  certainly  the  same 
now  known  as  the  St.  John.  Of  the  other  rivers  mentioned  in 
the  account  of  this  expedition,  the  Seine  seems  to  correspond 
with  that  now  called  the  Nassau,  the  Somme  with  the  St.  Mary, 
the  Garonne  with  the  Alatamaha,  and  the  Riviere  Grande  writh 
the  Savannah.  Admitting  the  exactness  of  this  last  supposition 
the  harbor  near  the  32d  degree  of  latitude,  named  by  Ribault,Port 
Royal,  and  selected  as  the  site  for  a  settlement,  must  have  been 
the  inlet  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  at  present  called  St. 
Helena  Sound;  and  not  the  one  farther  south  now  known  as  Port 
Royal,  which  seems  rather  to  have  been  the  Riviere  Belle-a-voir 
of  the  French  accounts.  The  two  inlets  are  however  only^ twenty 
miles  apart,  and  communicate  with  each  other  by  passages  be 
tween  islands,  which  they  separate  from  each  other  and  from  the 
mainland.*  It  has  been  already  said,  that  this  part  of  the  coast 
had  been  visited  by,the  Spaniards  under  Vazquez  de  Ayllon  in 

*  The  earliest  account  of  this  expedition,  is  the  report  addressed  by  Ribault  to 
Admiral  de  Coligny  on  his  return  to  France,  of  which  an  English  translation  was 
published  at  London  in  1563,  entitled,  "The  whole  and  true  discovery  of  Terra 
Florida,  &c."  The  most  complete  account  is  however  given  by  Laudouiniere  in 
the  "  Histoire  notable  de  la  Floride,"  hereafter  mentioned,  published  by  Ba- 
sanier,  at  Paris  in  1586,  and  by  Hakluyt  in  English,  in  his  Collection. 
.  Many  particulars  vrhich  could  not  with  propriety  be  inserted  in  this  history, 
will  b(  found  in  the  life  of  Ribault,  by  Mr.  Jared  Sparks,  in  his  valuable  Collec 
tion  of  American  Biographies. 


1562.]  FIRST    FRENCH    COLONY    IN    FLORIDA.  ]  29 

1520,  and  six  years  afterwards  when  he  endeavored  to  form  a 
settlement  somewhat  farther  north;  no  exact  knowledge  of  it 
had  however  been  obtained  at  the  period  in  question. 

On  one  of  the  islands  between  these  two  inlets,  or  more 
probably  north  of  St.  Helena  Sound,  Ribault  landed,  and  with  due 
solemnity  took  possession  for  his  sovereign,  setting  up  at  the 
same  time  a  pillar  with  the  arms  of  France  upon  it.  He  then 
explored  the  surrounding  country,  and  began  the  construction  of 
a  fort  and  buildings  for  the  residence  of  his  people,  on  another 
and  larger  island  of  the  group,  possibly  that  now  known  as  Beau 
fort.  The  settlement  thus  formed  was  named  Charlefort,  in  honor 
of  the  king ;  and  according  to  the  account  of  the  expedition,  it 
comprised  only  a  few  wooden  buildings,  enclosed  by  a  palisade 
of  eighty  or  ninety  feet  square.  The  work  being  completed, 
Ribault  sailed  with  both  vessels  for  France,  leaving  twenty-five 
men  at  the  place,  and  promising  to  returji  before  the  end  of  the 
year  with  reinforcements  and  supplies. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  Ribault,  the  fort  and  houses  of  the 
colony,  with  nearly  all  their  provisions  and  materials,  were  de 
stroyed  accidentally  by  fire.  The  fort  was  rebuilt,  but  the  people 
discouraged  by  their  losses,  became  mutinous,  and  refused  to 
work;  and  when  their  captain,  Albert  de  la  Pierria,  attempted  to 
enforce  discipline  among  them,  they  seized  and  hung  him.  Ni 
colas  Barre  was  then  chosen  as  their  leader,  under  whose  direction 
they  built  a  small  vessel,  and  having  rigged  her  as  well  as  they 
could,  set  sail  for  France.  On  the  way,  their  provisions  and 
water  were  exhausted,  and  they  were  forced  to  put  to  death  one 
of  their  number,  in  order  to  obtain  food ;  this  relief  was  however 
only  temporary,  and  they  were  sinking  in  weakness  and  despair, 
when  they  were  met  and  succored  by  an  English  vessel,  and  were 
thus  enabled  to  reach  England,  from  which  they  afterwards  passed 
over  to  their  own  country. 

Ribault,  meanwhile,  arrived  with  his  two  vessels  in  France  in 
July,  1562,  and  there  found  the  civil  war  in  progress,  between 
his  brethren  in  religion  and  the  Catholics.  The  Huguenots  were 
defeated ;  but  queen  Elizabeth  saved  them,  by  invading  the  north 
ern  coasts  of  France,  and  a  pacification  was  effected  on  terms 
nearly  equal.  As  soon  as  tranquillity  had  been  restored  Coligny 
again  directed  his  thoughts  to  the  establishment  of  a  colony  iij 
17 


130      SECOND  EXPEDITION  OF  THE  FRENCH  TO  FLORIDA.    [1564. 

the  New  World;  and  having  as  before,  obtained  the  assent  of 
the  young  king,  he  prepared  three  vessels  for  the  enterprise. 
The  crews,  as  well  as  the  settlers  and  soldiers,  were  selected 
with  as  much  care  as  possible;  arms,  ammunition,  provisions, 
tools  and  other  requisite  articles,  were  furnished  in  abundance, 
and  the  little  squadron  thus  equipped,  sailed  from  Havre  on  the 
22d  of  April,  1564,  under  the  command  of  Rene  de  Goulaine  de 
Laudouiniere,*  a  gentleman  from  the  province  of  Poitou,  who 

*This  is  the  true  orthography  of  the  name,  as  ascertained  by  the  Marquis  de 
Magny,  Secretary  of  the  Heraldic  College  of  France,  after  careful  inquiries  in 
Poitou.  It  is  commonly  written  Laudonniere;  but  may  also  be  found  under  the 
forms  of  Laduniere,  Ladoniere,  and  Ladignere,  in  various  narratives,  published 
at  the  period  in  question.  No  one  accustomed  to  the  examination  of  the  chroni 
cles  of  that  period  will  be  surprised  at  these  differences. 

Many  accounts  of  this  expedition  have  been  given  by  cotemporary  writers, 
French  and  Spanish,  through  which  we  are  enabled  to  arrive  at  the  principal 
facts  with  considerable  certainty.  The  Spanish  authorities  are  noticed  at  page 
136  ;  those  most  worthy  of  credit,  on  the  part  of  the  French,  are  the  following  : 

The  earliest,  entitled — "Histoire  memorable  du  dernier  voyage  aux  Indes, 
lieu  appele  la  Floride,"  was  printed  at  Dieppe  in  1566;  its  author  is  supposed 
to  have  been  Nicolas  le  Challeux,  an  old  carpenter,  who  went  out  with  Ribault 
in  1565,  and  was  one  of  the  few  who  escaped  from  Fort  Caroline  on  its  capture 
by  the  Spaniards.  The  account  of  the  writer's  own  experience  is  given  in  the 
most  simple  and  truthful  manner;  and  he  appends  to  it  a  narrative  of  the  de 
struction  of  the  French  at  Matanzas  Inlet,  by  Christophe  Le  Breton,  one  of  the 
survivors,  which  is  the  principal,  if  not  the  only  French  authority  for  the  cir 
cumstances  of  that  dreadful  affair.  The  whole  may  be  found  reprinted  in  the 
Collection  of  Ternaux  Compans. 

The  most  complete  original  account  of  the  expedition,  is  that  of  Laudoul- 
niere  himself,  written  upon  his  return  to  France,  and  published  after  his  death 
at  Paris  by  Basanier,  in  1586,  under  the  title  of  "  Histoire  Notable  de  la  Flo- 
ride,  &.c."  An  English  version  very  defective,  and  in  language  so  obsolete  as  to 
be  scarcely  intelligible  at  the  present  day,  is  contained  in  the  third  volume  of 
Hakluyt's  Collection  :  a  translation  carefully  made,  of  the  account  of  the  capture 
of  Fort  Caroline  by  the  Spaniards,  will  be  found  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustra 
tions,  at  the  end  of  this  volume  under  the  letter  B. 

Of  the  other  partial  narratives,  given  in  various  collections  of  voyages  and 
travels  of  the  16th  century,  one  of  the  most  famous,  is  that  in  the  celebrated  Col 
lection  of  De  Bry,  published  at  Frankfort  in  1593,  and  illustrated  by  numerous 
engravings,  from  drawings  made  by  Jacques  Le  Moine  de  Morgues,  the 
draughtsman  of  the  expedition,  one  of  the  few  who  escaped  from  Fort  Caroline 
on  its  capture.  The  drawings  were  doubtless  all  made  from  memory,  and 
though  designed  without  regard  for  the  rules  of  perspective,  they  are  neverthe 
less  valuable  as  illustrations ;  they  v/ere  drawn  by  De  Morgues  in  London,  for 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  probably  when  he  was  engaged  in  preparing  for  his  expedi 
tion  to  Carolina,  and  were  purchased  by  De  Bry  from  the  widow  of  the  artist, 
who  was  then  living  in  poverty  in  England. 


1564.] 


LAUDOUINIEK.E    LANDS    IN    FLORIDA. 


131 


had  accompanied  Ribault  in  his  expedition,  and  had  before, 
as  well  as  since  that  time,  conducted  himself  with  great  prudence 
and  gallantry. 

Taking  his  course  by  the  Canary  Islands,  and  the  easternmost 
of  the  West  Indian  Archipelago,  Laudouiniere  reached  the  coast 
of  Florida,  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  near  Cape  Canaveral ;  north 


&  Seine, 


deMayorSanMafheo. 


of  which,  he  anchored  and  landed  at  an  inlet,  named  by  him 
Riviere  des  Dauphins  or  Dolphin  river,  from  the  number  of  those 
fish  observed  in  it.  Continuing  his  voyage  in  the  same  direc 
tion,  he  visited  in  succession,  the  mouths  of  the  river  of  May, 
now  the  St.  John,  the  Seine  or  Nassau,  and  the  Somme  or  St. 
Mary ;  from  which  last,  the  vessels  returned  to  the  river  of  May, 
where  it  was  resolved  to  make  the  first  establishment. 


132  FOUNDATION    OF    FORT    CAROLINE.  [1564. 

A  spot  was  accordingly  selected  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river, 
about  six  miles  from  its  mouth ;  on  which  the  French  after  praying 
to  God  for  his  favor,  constructed  their  habitation.  It  consisted 
like  that  at  Port  Royal,  of  wooden  houses,  surrounded  by  a  wall 
or  palisade  of  logs,  wattled  or  interwoven  with  boughs;  the 
whole  being  moreover  enclosed  by  a  rampart  of  earth  and  logs, 
of  triangular  form,  on  each  side  of  which  projected  bastions 
armed  with  small  cannon.  The  place  was  thus  rendered  strong 
enough  to  resist  attacks  from  the  natives,  and  in  honor  of  the 
king  it  received  the  name  of  Fort  Caroline.* 

When  the  buildings  had  been  completed,  and  the  stores  were 
deposited  in  them,  Laudouiniere  began  to  clear  land  for  cultiva 
tion,  and  to  send  exploring  parties  through  the  country,  in  order 
to  discover  its  advantages  and  to  conciliate  the  natives.  The 
river  of  May  was  thus  traced  southward  to  its  lakes,  more  than 
eighty  leagues  from  its  mouth ;  and  treaties  of  peace  were  made 
with  the  most  powerful  Indian  chiefs  of  the  vicinity,  who  en 
gaged  to  supply  the  settlement  with  corn.  The  vessels  having 
been  in  the  meantime  unladen,  and  no  farther  use  for  them  ap 
pearing,  they  were  sent  back  to  France  to  carry  the  news  of 
what  had  been  done,  and  to  bring  additional  settlers  and  supplies 
to  the  country. 

In  this  manner,  the  first  summer  passed  in  quiet,  and  then 
troubles  began  to  appear  in  the  establishment.  Notwithstanding 

*In  De  Bry's  Collection  is  an  engraving  of  the  fort,  taken  from  a  drawing,  made 
doubtless  from  memory,  by  Lemoine  de  Morgues.  The  following  description  of 
the  place  is  given  by  Laudouiniere,  in  his  "  Histoire  notable  de  la  Floride  :" 

"  Our  fort  was  built  in  form  of  a  triangle.  The  western  side  towards  the  land 
was  enclosed  by  a  small  ditch,  and  a  rampart  of  earth,  thrown  up  to  the  height 
of  nine  feet.  On  the  other  side  towards  the  river,  was  a  palisade  of  timber,  in 
the  form  of  gabions  ;  on  the  south  side,  was  a  bastion  within  which  I  caused  a 
house  to  be  built  for  a  magazine ;  the  whole  was  of  logs  and  sand,  except  about 
two  or  three  feet  of  the  upper  part  of  the  ramparts,  which  were  of  earth.  In  the 
middle,  was  a  large  court  yard  of  eighteen  paces  square ;  on  the  south  side  of  this 
court,  were  the  barracks,  and  on  the  other  side  a  house,  which  I  raised  somewhat 
too  high,  for  the  wind  soon  threw  the  walls  down;  and  Uearned  by  experience 
that  v/e  could  not  raise  our  houses  to  many  stories  in  this  country,  from  the  vio 
lence  of  the  tempests.  One  of  the  sides  of  my  court,  which  was  large  and  beauti 
ful,  extended  to  the  magazine ;  and  on  the  other,  towards  the  river,  were  my  own 
lodgings,  with  covered  galleries  all  around.  The  principal  door  of  my  lodging 
was  in  the  middle  of  the  great  court,  and  the  other  towards  the  river.  At  a  short 
distance  from  the  fort  I  built  an  oven  in  order  to  avoid  the  danger  of  fire,  as  the 
houses  were  covered  with  palmetto  leaves." 


1564.]  TROUBLES  AT  FORT  CAROLINE.  133 

the  Care  employed  in  the  selection  of  the  persons  for  the  enter 
prise,  there  were  among  them,  many  idle  and  dissolute  men,  who 
were  ignorant  of  what  they  had  to  expect,  and  had  been  induced 
to  join  the  expedition,  merely  by  the  hopes  of  living  at  ease 
without  labor,  'in  the  golden  regions  of  the  New  World.  These 
hopes  had  been  unfortunately  increased,  soon  after  their  arrival, 
by  the  sight  of  some  pieces  of  gold  and  silver,  in  the  possession 
of  the  natives,  which  they  readily  gave  in  exchange  for  the  knives 
and  hatchets  of  the  French;  and  the  commands  and  remon 
strances  of  Laudouiniere,  thenceforth  became  ineffectual,  to  in 
duce  a  large  number  of  his  men,  to  labor  in  their  regular  employ 
ments,  instead  of  rambling  about  the  country  in  search  of  mines. 
The  principal  encouragers  of  this  insubordination  were  an  officer 
named  Le  Gievre,  and  one  Roquette,  a  soldier  who  had  been  a 
monk,  and  pretended  that  he  had  by  magical  skill,  discovered 
a  rich  mine  of  gold,  during  the  voyage  up  the  river  of  May. 
Through  their  means,  cabals  and  conspiracies  were  formed  at 
Fort  Caroline,  against  the  authority  and  even  against  the  life  of 
the  governor,  who  narrowly  escaped  death,  at  one  time  by 
poison,  and  at  another  by  the  explosion  of  a  barrel  of  gunpowder 
under  his  bed. 

The  search  for  mines  in  Florida  proved  entirely  fruitless ;  and 
the  gold  and  silver  found  in  the  possession  of  the  natives,  having 
been  all  obtained  from  the  wrecks  of  Spanish  vessels  on  the 
coasts,  were  soon  exhausted.  The  discontented  portion  of  the 
colonists  thereupon  conceived  that  their  objects  might  be  equally 
well  attained,  by  the  plunder  of  the  vessels  which  passed  near 
them,  laden  with  cargoes  so  rich ;  and  two  of  the  barques  built 
for  exploring  the  river,  were  in  consequence  carried  off  in  No 
vember,  by  parties  of  seamen  and  carpenters,  who  sailed  for  the 
West  Indies.  Another  body  of  mutineers  in  the  following  month, 
seized  Laudouiniere,  whilst  he  was  confined  to  bed  by  sickness, 
and  having  carried  him  on  board  of  one  of  the  vessels,  compelled 
him  to  sign  a  passport  or  commission,  under  which  they  seized 
the  principal  barque,  equipped  her  with  arms  and  provisions,  and 
took  their  departure  in  the  same  direction. 

The  last  mentioned  party  of  mutineers  returned  to  the  fort  in 
March,  1565,  in  the  most  distressed  condition,  with  a  Spanish 
vessel  taken  by  them  on  the  coast  of  Cuba;  and  Laudouiniere 


134  MENENDEZ    ADELANTADO    OF    FLORIDA.  [1565. 

who  had  during  their  absence  strengthened  his  authority,  imlne- 
diately  seized  them  and  caused  four  of  the  ringleaders  to  be  shot. 
The  other  deserters  also  took  a  rich  Spanish  vessel,  and  having 
divided  the  spoils  among  themselves,  went  to  Havanna,  where 
information  of  the  position  and  force  of  the  French  settlement 
was  obtained  from  them  by  the  governor,  and  two  of  their  num 
ber  were  sent  as  prisoners  to  Spain. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  care  and  secrecy  which  had  been  ob 
served  by  the  Huguenots  with  regard  to  their  expeditions  and 
establishments  in  Florida,  they  of  course  soon  became  known  to 
the  Spanish  government;  it  is  even  said,  that  Charles  IX.  him 
self  communicated  all  the  particulars  to  his  brother-in-law,  king 
Philip,  by  a  letter  in  1564.  The  proposals  made  by  Pedro  Me- 
nendez  to  explore  and  occupy  that  country  were  then  taken  into 
serious  consideration ;  and  when  in  the  following  year,  the  deser 
ters  from  Fort  Caroline  brought  to  Spain,  accounts  of  the  exact 
position  and  extent  of  the  French  settlement,  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  line  of  passage  of  vessels  from  the  West  Indies  or  the 
Mexican  Gulf  to  Europe,  it  was  determined  that  the  most  effec 
tive  measures  should  be  taken,  without  delay  to  destroy  the  here 
tics,  and  to  prevent  future  encroachments  upon  that  important 
portion  of  the  New  World.  With  this  object,  a  patent  was  on 
the  20th  of  March,  1565,  granted  by  the  king,  to  Menendez, 
constituting  him  Adelantado  of  Florida,  and  empowering  him  to 
explore,  pacificate,  and  settle,  the  whole  of  that  division  of 
America,  at  his  own  expense;  and  to  retain  the  government,  and 
enjoy  the  advantages  derivable  from  it,  in  every  way,  and  trans 
mit  the  same  to  his  heirs  in  perpetuity,  on  certain  expressed  con 
ditions,  to  be  always  observed.  It  was  however  stipulated,  in 
consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  first  service  to  be  performed, 
namely  the  pacification  of  the  country, — in  other  words  the  ex 
termination  of  the  French  heretics — that  five  hundred  men  with 
their  arms  and  provisions  for  their  maintenance  during  a  short 
period,  and  vessels  for  their  transportation,  should  be  allowed  by 
the  sovereign,  free  from  all  cost  to  the  Adelantado.  In  accord 
ance  with  these  stipulations,  an  armament  was  forthwith  prepar 
ed;  and  all  being  ready  for  the  enterprise,  Menendez  sailed  from 
Cadiz  on  the  28th  of  June,  with  twelve  vessels,  carrying  about 
two  thousand  six  hundred  persons,  mostly  destined  for  Florida, 


1565.]  HAWKINS    AT    FORT    CAROLINE.  135 

including  the  two  French  deserters,  who  sailed  in  the  admiral's 
own  ship. 

The  resources  of  the  French  colony  on  the  river  of  May, 
against  which  this  formidable  expedition  was  directed,  were  in 
the  meantime  rapidly  failing.  No  assistance  arrived  from 
France ;  the  Indians  of  the  surrounding  country  became  insolent, 
and  refused  to  furnish  corn ;  and  as  no  grain  had  been  planted, 
from  the  causes  already  mentioned,  famine  seemed  to  impend 
over  the  settlement.  Laudouiniere  was  daily  besought  by  the 
colonists,  to  return  with  them  to  France,  in  their  barques,  and 
he  was  on  the  point  of  yielding  to  their  entreaties,  when  on  the 
3d  of  August,  four  English  vessels  appeared  at  the  entrance  of 
the  river.  They  were  commanded  by  the  famous  free-trader 
John  Hawkins,  who  was  then  returning  to  England,  with  a  large 
amount  of  specie,  and  valuable  merchandise,  obtained  in  the 
West  Indies,  in  exchange  for  negroes  brought  from  the  African 
coast.  He  was  received  and  treated  with  great  politeness,  by 
Laudouiniere,  who  aided  him  in  procuring  water;  and  Hawkins 
in  return,  supplied  the  French  with  some  provisions,  wine  and 
clothes,  and  offered  to  carry  them  all  back  to  their  country.  The 
governor,  however,  being  thus  enabled  to  maintain  his  position  a 
little  longer,  and  suspecting  that  the  English  might  afterwards 
found  some  claim  to  the  whole  territory,  on  the  fact  of  such  an 
abandonment  by  the  French,  declined  to  accept  the  offer;  though 
he  purchased  one  of  the  English  vessels,  by  means  of  which, 
and  of  his  barques,  the  return  to  France  might  be  effected,  in 
case  it  should  be  absolutely  necessary.  In  a  few  days,  Hawkins 
departed  for  Europe  leaving  the  French  in  better  situation  and 
spirits  than  he  had  found  them;  not  only  from  the  addition  made 
to  their  immediate  comfort  by  the  supplies  furnished,  but  also 
from  the  moral  influence,  which  Laudouiniere  had  been  able  to 
acquire  over  the  Indians,  by  assuring  them,  that  the  English 
commander  was  his  brother,  and  had  come  for  the  special  pur 
pose  of  assisting  him.* 

*  Of  the  visit  of  Hawkins  to  Fort  Caroline,  we  have  his  account,  as  well  as 
that  given  by  Laudouiniere.  The  Englishman  pronounces  an  unfavorable  opinion 
of  Florida,  as  a  place  for  a  settlement :  he  admits  that  it  is  well  adapted  for  the 
growth  of  Indian  corn,  and  for  grazing,  but  it  is  on  the  other  hand  "poor  in  gold 
and  silver,  the  things  we  all  seek  for." 


136 


MENENDEZ    APPEARS    BEFORE    THE    FORT. 


[1565. 


Shortly  after  the  departure  of  the  English,  four  French  ships 
arrived  at  Fort  Caroline,  bringing  three  hundred  people  of  both 
sexes,  as  settlers,  with  supplies  of  provisions  and  materials. 
They  were  commanded  by  John  Ribault,  who  had  conducted  the 
first  expedition  to  Florida,  and  now  came  with  a  commission  as 
governor,  to  supersede  Laudouiniere,  and  require  him  to  return 
to  France,  and  answer  certain  charges  there  preferred  against 
him.  Laudouiniere,  unconscious  of  wrong,  was  overwhelmed 
with  surprise  and  mortification,  at  this  recall;  and,  though  Ri 
bault  entreated  him  to  remain,  and  give  the  colony  the  benefit  of 
his  advice,  he  refused,  being  unable,  as  he  said,  to  bear  the  com 
mands  of  another,  where  he  had  already  suffered  so  much,  in 
order  to  effect  the  settlement.  He  accordingly  resigned  his  au 
thority  to  his  successor,  and  was  preparing  to  go  to  France,  with 
the  vessels,  when,  on  the  4th  of  September,  five  Spanish  ships  of 
war  entered  the  river. 

These  vessels  formed  a  portion  of  the  squadron  of  Pedro  Me- 
nendez,  and  were  commanded  by  him  in  person:  the  others  had 
been  dispersed  in  a  storm  before  reaching  the  West  Indies.* 
Menendez,  however,  was  too  impatient  to  await  the  arrival  of  his 
whole  force  at  the  place  of  rendezvous  in  Porto  Rico,  but  sailing 
from  that  island,  with  the  four  ships  in  question,  and  about  six 
hundred  men,  he,  on  the  28th  of  August,  the  day  assigned  to  St. 
Augustine  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Calendar,  made  the  land  of 
Florida,  near  the  30th  degree  of  latitude,  opposite  to  the  inlet, 

*  The  proceedings  of  the  Spaniards  in  this  expedition  to  Florida,  are  related 
with  great  minuteness  and  apparent  accuracy  by  Barcia,  in  his  "Ensayo  Chro- 
nologico,"  as  derived  from  official  documents,  and  from  a  memoir  or  narrative, 
written  by  Dr.  Solis  de  las  Meras,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Adelantado,  who 
accompanied  the  expedition,  and  professes  to  have  witnessed  nearly  every  thing 
described  by  him.  A  portion  of  the  narrative  of  Solis  de  las  Meras,  will  be 
found  translated,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this 
volume,  under  the  letter  B.  No.  2.  We  have  also  the  journal  of  the  chaplain 
Francisco  Lopez  de  Mendoza  Grajales,  translated  into  French,  and  published  in 
the  Collection  of  Ternaux  Compans,  beginning  with  the  departure  of  the  fleet 
from  Spain,  and  ending  on  the  28th  of  August. 

These  accounts  agree  with  each  other,  and  with  those  of  the  French  very 
nearly,  on  all  the  principal  circumstances,  so  far  at  least  as  they  relate  to  events 
of  which  the  narrators  on  both  sides  were  witnesses,  or  were  able  to  procure 
evidence  apparently  worthy  of  credit ;  and  where  they  differ,  which  is  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  only  on  unimportant  points,  the  Spanish  accounts  seem  to  be 
in  every  respect  preferable  to  the  French. 


1565.]  RIBAULT    SAILS    FROM    THE    RIVER.  137 

which  the  French  had  in  the  preceding  year,  named  River  of 
Dolphins.  Off  this  place,  Menendez  anchored;  and  the  French 
deserters  having  recognized  it,  he  departed  under  their  guidance, 
for  the  River  of  May,  which  he  entered,  as  already  said,  on  the 
4th  of  September. 

Ribault,  so  soon  as  he  saw  the  Spanish  ships,  was  aware  of 
their  purpose,  having  been  advised  of  their  expedition,  by  a  letter 
from  Coligny,  received  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  France; 
and  as  the  Admiral  had  at  the  same  time,  earnestly  enjoined  upon 
him,  not  to  suffer  the  Spaniards  to  establish  themselves  in  Florida, 
he  determined  to  resist  them  as  far  as  possible.  The  Spanish 
commander  immediately  on  anchoring,  declared  his  name  and 
character,  and  imperiously  ordered  the  French  to  quit  the  territo 
ries  of  the  Catholic  ,King:  Ribault  answered  that  he  would  die 
before  abandoning  the'  post  confided  to  his  charge;  being  how 
ever  unprepared  for  resistance  at  the  moment,  he  cut  his  cables, 
and  proceeded  to  sea  with  his  four  largest  ships.  Menendez 
followed  with  all  his  force,  and  a  running  fight  was  maintained 
through  the  night,  without  serious  damage  to  either  party ;  at  the 
end  of  which  time  the  two  squadrons  were  separated  by  a  storm. 

Ribault  returned  with  three  of  his  vessels  to  Fort  Caroline, 
where  he  announced  his  determination  to  take  all  the  largest  ships 
and  nearly  all  the  most  effective  men,  and  go  to  sea  again  in 
search  of  the  Spaniards;  to  which  Laudouiniere  strongly  objected 
considering  it  preferable  to  concentrate  their  forces  at  their 
strongest  points.  Ribault,  however,  exhibited  the  Admiral's 
letter,  and  declared  his  resolution  to  resist  the  Spaniards  at  sea, 
as  the  only  means  of  defeating  them,  before  they  should  receive 
reinforcements  from  the  West  Indies ;  and  he  accordingly  departed 
on  the  10th,  with  five  large  vessels,  carrying  together  more  than 
six  hundred  able  men.  Fort  Caroline  was  left  under  the  com 
mand  of  Laudouiniere,  with  a  feeble  garrison,  and  all  the  women 
and  children,  laborers  and  wounded,  and  other  ineffective  per 
sons,  amounting  in  all  to  about  two  hundred  and  forty. 

From  Fort  Caroline,  Ribault  proceeded  along  the  coast  south 
ward  to  the  River  of  Dolphins,  where  he  saw  the  Spanish  ships 
at  anchor.  He  remained  before  the  place,  endeavoring  to  bring 
them  to  action,  for  two  days,  when  a  violent  storm  arose,  by 
which  the  French  vessels  were  driven  farther  south,  and  finally 
18 


138  FOUNDATION    OF    ST.    AUGUSTINE.  [1565. 

stranded  midway  between  the  River  of  Dolphins  and '  Cape 
Canaveral.  Their  crews  were  nearly  all  saved;  and  they  refitted 
one  of  the  small  vessels,  in  which  sixteen  men  were  placed  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Levasseur,  to  bear  the  news  of  the  mis 
fortune  to  Fort  Caroline.  The  others  took  their  way  along  the 
coast  in  the  same  direction,  suffering  from  want  of  food  and  water. 

The  Spaniards  in  the  meantime  had  entered  the  river  of  Dol 
phins,  on  the  7th  of  September;  and  Menendez  finding  the  place 
well  adapted  for  an  establishment,  selected  a  spot  at  the  mouth 
of  the  little  stream,  now  called  North  river,  opposite  the  entrance 
of  the  inlet,  where  he  with  due  solemnity,  laid  the  founda 
tions  of  a  fortress  and  town,  named  San  Augustine,  in  honor 
of  the  saint,  on  whose  day  the  land  was  discovered.  By  the 
17th  of  the  month,  the  works  had  been  advanced  sufficiently 
to  render  the  place  capable  of  resisting  any  attack  which  might 
be  anticipated;  and  the  vessels  being  also  secured  in  the  harbor, 
Menendez  determined  without  farther  delay,  to  attack  the 
French  in  Fort  Caroline.  He  accordingly  set  off  from  St. 
Augustine,  on  the  18th  of  August,  with  five  hundred  men,  leav 
ing  the  others,  at  that  place,  under  the  command  of  his  brother. 
The  march,  though  not  exceeding  thirty  miles,  was  painful  and 
difficult,  chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  violence  of  the  rains ;  and 
the  men  frequently  broke  out  into  expressions  of  discontent,  bor 
dering  upon  mutiny.  Menendez  however,  engaged —  as  he  seems 
to  have  been  convinced — in  the  most  holy  of  enterprises,  and 
under  the  immediate  protection  of  the  Virgin,  closed  his  ears 
against  all  complaints;  and  pressing  onwards,  thus  arrived  during 
the  night  of  the  20th,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Caroline,  where  they 
halted  until  break  of  day. 

Fort  Caroline  was,  as  already  said,  merely  a  few  wooden 
buildings,  surrounded  by  a  palisade,  enclosed  within  a  triangular 
rampart  of  earth;  and  was  armed  only  with  some  small  cannon. 
Of  its  inmates,  after  the  departure  of  Ribault,  not  more  than  sev 
enteen  were  effective  soldiers ;  the  others  two  hundred  and  twen 
ty-three  in  number  were  laborers,  servants,  invalids,  women  and 
children.  In  the  river  opposite  the  fort,  lay  three  small  barques 
which  had  been  built  there,  and  one  ship,  La  Perle,  commanded 
by  Jacques  Ribault,  the  governor's  son,  together  with  the  vessel 
purchased  from  Hawkins.  The  ground  around  the  fort  had  been 


1585.]     CAPTURE   OF  FORT  CAROLINE  BY  THE   SPANIARDS.          139 

cleared  to  the  distance  of  half  a  mile ;  beyond  which  lay  thick 
woods,  on  all  sides,  except  that  exposed  to  the  river.  Laudoui- 
niere  had  been  prevented  by  illness,  after  the  departure  of  Jean 
Ribault,  from  putting  the  place  in  the  best  state  of  defence,  of 
which  it  was  capable;  he  however  caused  the  watches  to  be  kept, 
and  this  was  regularly  done,  until  day  break  of  the  21st,  when 
the  officer  on  duty,  allowed  the  sentinels  who  had  been  for  some 
time  exposed  to  a  violent  rain,  to  come  in  to  their  quarters.  At 
this  moment,  the  Spaniards  suddenly  rushed  from  the  wood,  and 
entering  the  enclosure  of  the  fort,  without  difficulty,  through  two 
places  where  the  palisade  was  defective,  they  were  masters  of  the 
whole,  ere  the  French  had  been  fully  aroused  from  their  slumbers. 
Resistance  was  impossible,  and  each  Frenchman  endeavored  to 
save  himself  as  he  could.  Laudouiniere,  with  the  carpenter  Le 
Challeux,  the  draughtsman  Lemoine  de  Morgues,  and  about  sixty 
or  seventy  others,  succeeded  in  escaping  to  the  woods;  where, 
after  some  time,  they  were  nearly  all  taken  up,  and  carried  on 
board  the  vessels  in  the  river.  A  few  women  and  children  found 
by  the  Spaniards  in  the  fort  and  some  men,  who  at  once  declared 
themselves  to  be  Catholics  were  spared ;  the  others  were  put  to 
death,  the  greater  part  immediately,  the  remainder  according  to  the 
accounts,  being  hanged  on  trees  in  front  of  the  place,  with  an  in 
scription  placed  over  them,  containing  the  words,  'lNot  as  French 
men,  but  as  Lutherans  and  heretics."  Of  the  French  who  failed 
to  reach  the  vessels,  five  or  six  surrendered  themselves  to  the 
Spaniards,  and  were  treated  as  their  brethren  had  been ;  the 
others  fled  to  the  Indians,  or  perished  from  hunger  in  the  forests.* 
Menendez  and  his  pious  followers,  so  soon  as  they  had  com 
pleted  their  bloody  task,  and  refreshed  themselves  from  the  stores 
of  the  fort,  gratefully  returned  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  the 
favor  and  clemency  extended  to  them.  They  then  tore  down  the 
arms  of  France  and  those  of  Coligny,  which  hung  together  over 
the  gate,  and  placed  the  royal  escutcheon  of  Spain  in  their  stead  ; 
bestowing  on  the  fort,  as  well  as  on  the  river,  the  name  of  San 

*  See  the  account  of  the  capture  of  the  fort,  translated  from  Laudouiniere's 
Narrative,  as  published  by  Basanier,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the 
latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  B,  No.  1.  The  Spanish  account  pre 
sented  by  the  chaplain  Mendosa  Grajales,  does  not  differ  from  that  of  the  French 
in  any,  point  to  which  they  both  refer. 


140          LAUDOUINIERE  ESCAPES  TO  FRANCE.       1565.] 

Matheo,  in  honor  of  St.  Matthew,  on  whose  day,  the  21st  of 
September,  the  capture  was  effected.  On  examining  the  build 
ings,  the  Spaniards  were  much  shocked  at  finding  many  Lutheran 
books,  filled  with  blasphemies  against  the  Pope  and  the  holy 
church  of  Rome,  as  well  as  packs  of  playing  cards  on  which, 
objects  the  most  sacred,  were  represented  as  the  distinguishing 
marks  of  the  suites.  Among  the  bodies  of  the  slain,  they  in  par 
ticular  observed  that  of  "a  great  cosmographer  and  magician," 
who  bore  about  his  person  many  articles  indicative  of  his  horrid 
pursuits;  this  was  no  doubt  La  Roquette,  the  soldier  who  pre 
tended  to  discover  gold  mines  by  his  skill  in  sorcery.  Such 
circumstances  were  calculated  to  quiet  any  qualms  of  conscience 
which  the  captors  of  Fort  Caroline  might  have  felt,  respecting 
the  propriety  of  their  acts,  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  more 
arduous  duties  of  the  same  kind,  which  they  were  soon  to 
perform. 

When  order  had  been  restored  in  the  fort,  Menendez  caused 
some  cannon  to  be  planted  on  the  river  bank,  and  summoned  the 
French  vessels  to  surrender;  promising  that  their  crews  with  the 
women  and  children,  who  had  been  spared,  should  be  allowed  to 
return  to  their  country,  under  his  passport,  in  the  small  vessels. 
This  was  however  refused  by  Laudouiniere,  though  Jacques 
Ribault  was  disposed  to  accept  the  offer;  and  one  of  the  French 
vessels  was  in  consequence  sunk  by  the  shot  of  the  Spaniards, 
after  her  crew  had  escaped  to  the  ship  in  a  boat.  As  the  other 
vessels  were  beyond  the  reach  of  his  guns,  Menendez  resolved 
to  return  immediately  to  St.  Augustine,  and  to  bring  his  ships  to 
the  river,  in  order  to  intercept  the  French ;  with  which  view  he 
took  his  departure  on  the  22d,  leaving  the  fort  under  the  com 
mand  of  Gonzalo  de  Villarroel.  The  Spaniard  was  however  dis 
appointed  on  this  occasion ;  for  the  French  penetrating  his  inten 
tions,  and  learning  nothing  of  Jean  Ribault  or  his  squadron,  de 
stroyed  the  small  vessels,  and  sailed  in  the  two  largest  for  France, 
where  they  arrived  in  safety,  after  a  long  and  distressful  voyage. 

On  the  23d  of  the  month,  the  Adelantado  arrived  at  St.  Augus 
tine,  with  a  few  men,  and  communicated  the  particulars  of  the 
capture  of  Fort  Caroline,  and  the  destruction  of   its   inmates, * 
which  was  celebrated  by  masses  and  rejoicings.     On  the  pre 
vious  day,  the  vessel  which  had  been  sent  by  Ribault,  to  bear 


1565.]  MASSACRE  OF  THE  FRENCH.  141 

the  rrews  of  his  shipwreck  to  Laudouiniere,  entered  an  inlet  near 
St.  Augustine,  where  almost  all  of  her  crew  were  killed  by  Span 
iards  or  Indians.  The  survivors  were  carried  before  Menendez, 
who  thus  learned  the  destruction  of  the  French  ships ;  and  he  was 
soon  after  informed  by  some  Indians,  that  a  large  body  of  white 
men  were  assembled  on  the  shore  of  an  inlet  five  leagues  farther 
south.  Not  doubting  that  these  were  the  shipwrecked  French, 
he  despatched  a  vessel  to  the  spot,-  without  delay ;  and  having 
then  made  all  his  preparations  at  the  town,  set  off  on  the  28th, 
with  a  body  of  soldiers  to  meet  the  enemy. 

St.  Augustine  stood,  and  still  stands,  opposite  the  northern  inlet 
or  entrance  of  a  sound,  which  thence  extends  southward,  and 
parallel  to  the  sea  coast  twenty  miles,  and  there  joins  the  ocean 
by  another  inlet,  near  its  southern  extremity.  Into  this  southern 
extremity  of  the  sound,  a  small  river  empties ;  and  in  the  space 
between  this  river  and  the  sea,  on  the  shore  of  the  inlet,  more 
than  two  hundred  of  the  shipwrecked  French,  were  collected 
under  the  guidance  of  some  officers,  nearly  all  unarmed  and  des 
titute  of  food.  On  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  September,  Me 
nendez  arrived  with  his  men  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  stream ; 
and  one  of  the  French  soon  swam  over  to  him,  and  gave  informa 
tion  as  to  the  character  and  objects  of  his  countrymen,  who  wished 
only  to  be  allowed  to  march  in  peace  to  Fort  Caroline.  The 
Adelantado  upon  this,  requested  the  man  to  return,  and  invite 
some  of  his  superior  officers  to  come  to  the  Spanish  camp,  and 
confer  with  him  as  to  what  should  be  done.  This  proposition 
being  accepted,  a  parley  took  place  between  the  two  parties,  in 
which  Menendez  convinced  the  French,  that  their  fort  had  been 
captured  and  nearly  all  its  inmates  put  to  death ;  and  in  the  end  the 
French  consented  to  deliver  themselves  up  to  the  Spaniards.  They 
accordingly  surrendered  their  arms,  and  wrere  carried  in  detach 
ments  in  a  boat  over  the  inlet.  Each  detachment  immediately  on 
landing  was  marched  towards  St.  Augustine,  but  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  shore,  the  Frenchmen  were  all  securely  tied,  so  as  to  render 
escape  or  resistance  impossible.  They  were  then  asked  individ 
ually,  wrhat  was  th^ir  religious  faith,  and  a  few  who  declared 
themselves  Catholics,  were  separated  from  the  others  and  sent  to 
the  fort  in  boats.  The  remainder  of  each  detachment  on  proclaim 
ing  their  adherence,  to  the  doctrines  of  the  reformation  were,  after 


142  DEATH    OF    RIBAULT.  [1565. 

marching  a  little  farther,  all  put  to  death,  by  the  swords  and  dag 
gers  of  the  ruthless  Spaniards,  who  cried  at  every  blow,  "not  as 
Frenchmen,  but  as  heretics,  and  enemies  of  God  and  the  Holy 
Virgin."* 

On  the  following  day,  another  body  of  French,  three  hundred 
and  fifty  in  number,  arrived  at  the  same  place,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  inlet,  "and  being  accosted  by  the  Spaniards,  demanded  like 
wise,  to  be  allowed  to  pass  on  to  their  fort  near  the  river  of  May. 
They  received  the  same  answer,  which  was  given  to  the  others, 
that  the  fort  had  been  taken,  and  its  inmates  put  to  death ;  and 
they  were  required  immediately  to  surrender  themselves  as  pri 
soners  to  the  authorities  of  the  Spanish  monarch.  Ribault  there 
upon,  being  assured  of  safe  conduct,  crossed  the  inlet  to  the 
Spanish  camp,  where  he  was  met  and  treated  with  the  utmost 
courtesy  by  Menendez;  and  a  conference  wras  held  between 
them,  in  which  the  French  commander  endeavored  to  obtain  for 
his  countrymen  a  free  passage  to  France,  on  the  condition  of  their 
paying  a  ransom  as  soon  as  they  should  arrive  there.  The  Ade- 
lantado  however  replied,  that  though  it  grieved  him  to  lose  the 
ransom,  yet  he  was  bound  to  obey  the  orders  of  his  sovereign,  and 
he  wrould  promise  nothing  until  the  French  should  have  placed 
themselves  at  his  discretion;  and  Ribault  finding  the  Spaniard 
inflexible,  returned  to  his  men,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  whom, 
after  some  time,  resolved  to  submit  to  the  mercy  of  their  enemies. 
Ribault  himself  took  the  same  course,  and  their  intention  having 
been  declared  to  Menendez,  they  were  carried  as  the  others  had 
been  over  the  inlet  in  parties  of  ten,  who  were  in  like  manner 
securely  tied  on  landing,  and  driven  towards  St.  Augustine. 
The  French  commander  being  asked  of  what  religion  were  the 
prisoners,  replied  that  he  and  all  with  him  were  of  the  new  faith ; 
four  of  the  men  nevertheless  proclaimed  themselves  Catholics, 
and  they  as  well  as  twelve  others,  including  all  the  musicians, 
reached  the  town  in  safety:  the  remaining  one  hundred  and  thir 
ty-six,  were  despatched  on  the  way,  by  the  Spanish  soldiers, 
Ribault  himself  receiving  the  first  blow,  whilst  engaged  in  prayer 
to  the  Almighty  for  forgiveness  of  his  sins. 

*  See  the  extract  from  the  narrative  of  Soils  de  las  Meras,  describing  these 
atrocious  proceedings,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations  in  the  latter  part  of 
this  volume,  under  the  letter  B.  No.  2 


1565.]       EXTERMINATION    OF    THE    FRENCH    IN    FLORIDA.  143 

The  inlet  near  which  these  horrid  deeds  were  committed,  re 
ceived  from  the  Spaniards  the  name  of  Entrada  de  Matanzas — 
Massacre  Inlet — which  it  bears  at  the  present  day.  The  two 
hundred  French,  who  refused  to  trust  themselves  in  the  power  of 
the  Spaniards,  retreated  along  the  coast  southward  to  the  vicinity 
of  Cape  Canaveral,  where  they  endeavored  to  repair  one  of  their 
stranded  vessels,  in  order  if  possible  to  effect  their  escape  to 
France;  but  whilst  thus  engaged,  they  were  attacked  by  the  per 
severing  Adelantado,  who  made  prisoners  of  the  greater  number 
and  drove  the  others  to  the  woods,  where  they  probably  perished. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  about  six  hundred  Frenchmen,  or  more, 
were  put  to  death  by  the  Spaniards  in  Florida,*  during  the 
months  of  August,  September  and  October,  1565,  nearly  all  of 
them,  whilst  unarmed,  and  incapable  either  of  resistance  or  of 
flight.  In  contradiction  of  a  part  of  the  statement  here  pre 
sented,  as  derived  from  the  Spanish  authorities,  two  Frenchmen 
who  returned  to  their  country,  one  of  them  after  being  left  as 
dead  on  the  shore  of  Matanzas  inlet,  declare  that  there  was  but 
one  act  of  surrender,  and  one  scene  of  murder  at  that  place ;  and 
that  the  surrender  was  made  on  the  faith  of  a  solemn  promise 
from  Menendez,  that  the  prisoners  should  all  be  sent  in  safety  to 
France.  The  Spanish  accounts  of  these  occurrences  seem  to  be 
however  much  more  worthy  of  credit,  in  all  points,  except  as  re 
gards  the  promise  of  safe  conduct  which  they  all  deny  to  have 
been  given  by  Menendez;  especially  as  no  attempt  is  made  by 
their  authors,  to  disguise  or  extenuate  the  cruelties  committed 
by  that  commander,  which  are  on  the  contrary,  presented  and 
extolled,  as  acts  of  justice  and  heroism,  worthy  of  all  admiration. 
Throwing  aside  on  the  one  hand  the  protestations  of  the  Span 
iards,  in  denial  of  the  promise  of  safety,  as  proceeding  from 
parties  too  much  interested  to  be  impartial,  and  on  the  other  the 
accounts  of  the  French  seamen,  whose  means  of  exact  informa 
tion  as  to  what  passed  between  Ribault  and  Menendez,  must 
have  been  slight  and  imperfect,  and  regarding  only  the  proba 
bilities  in  the  case,  it  seems  indeed  most  strange,  that  large 
bodies  of  men,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  should  have  surrendered 

*  Viz :  about  160  at  Fort  Caroline,  and  336  at  Matanzas  inlet,  besides  those 
killed  near  St.  Augustine  and  Cape  Canaveral,  who  would  no  doubt  complete  the 
number  here  stated. 


144  FAITHLESSNESS    OF    THE    SPANIARDS.  [1565. 

themselves  to  their  most  deadly  foes,  without  any  conditions  as 
to  their  treatment ;  and  it  is  no  less  difficult  to  conceive,  that  the 
Spanish  commander  would  have  hesitated  to  give  any  assurance 
which  they  might  have  required,  to  induce  them  to  submit,  though 
at  the  same  time,  firmly  resolved  to  put  them  all  to  death, 
so  soon  as  they  should  be  in  his  power.  Good  faith  was  by 
no  means  a  characteristic  virtue  of  Europeans  at  that  day; 
and  the  history  of  Spain  at  all  times,  presents  innumerable  in 
stances,  of  capitulations  solemnly  made  and  then  shamefully 
broken,  by  the  military  and  civil  authorities  of  that  nation.* 
Whilst  therefore  circumstances  seem  to  favor  the  belief,  that  the 
Adelantado  did  engage  to  send  the  French  back  in  security  to 
their  country,  yet  at  the  same  time,  it  is  not  impossible,  that  the 
Huguenot  leaders,  may  have  considered  it  needless,  to  exact  con 
ditions,  which  they  must  have  known,  to  be  insufficient  to  re 
strain  the  Spaniards  for  a  moment. 

Whether  or  not  Menendez  gave  the  promise,  as  asserted  by 
the  French,  his  guilt  remains  the  same.  The  mere  failure  to  ob 
serve  a  capitulation,  is  a  peccadillo  when  compared  with  the 
murder  of  so  many  hundreds  of  unarmed,  unresisting  persons, 
the  enormity  of  which,  can  only  be  palliated,  by  the  circumstance, 
that  the  deed  was  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of  both  nations 
at  the  time.  The  civil  wars  in  France  offer  innumerable  instances 
of  the  same  kind ;  and  had  Ribault  and  his  followers  returned  to 
their  native  land,  the  greater  part  of  them  would  have  fallen 
under  the  poignards  of  their  own  countrymen,  in  the  general 
massacre  of  the  Protestants,  begun  on  St.  Bartholomew's  eve  in 
1572. 

The  Adelantado  having  thus  freed  his  province  from  the 
French,  labored,  assidiously  to  complete  the  establishment  of  the 
Spanish  power  on  its  coasts,  so  as  to  prevent  any  farther  attempts  of 
foreigners  to  occupy  them.  In  this  he  had  innumerable  difficulties 

*  Many  cases  of  the  same  kind,  may  be  found  in  Spanish  and  Spanish  Ameri 
can  history  of  our  own  times.  The  massacre  of  the  Texan  prisoners,  by  order 
of  the  Mexican  president,  Santa  Anna,  at  Goliad,  on  the  29th  of  March,  183G, 
is  one  of  them.  Nay,  more:  in  April,  1814,  the  Cortes  assembled  at  Cadiz, 
composed  of  probably  the  best  men  of  Spain,  issued  a  decree  with  regard  to  the 
conduct  of  its  officers  toward  the  insurgents  in  America,  declaring,  "  that  it  was 
derogatory  to  the  majesty  and  dignity  of  the  national  Congress,  to  confirm  a  ca 
pitulation  made  with  malignant  rebels.' 


1567.]  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    CHESAPEAKE    BAY.  145 

to  overcome,  from  the  inadequacy  of  his  own  means,  and  the  un 
willingness  of  his  government  to  aid  him,  as  well  as  from  the 
enmity  of  the  natives  and  the  licentious  insubordinate  character 
of  his  own  men.  He  was  thus  obliged  to  make  several  voyages 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  even  to  Spain,  in  order  to  procure  sup 
plies,  and  on  his  return  he  always  found  some  mutiny  to  be 
quelled,  or  some  discontent  to  be  appeased  by  sacrifices.  In 
1566,  the  garrison  of  the  fort  taken  from  the  French  on  the  River 
of  May,  was  in  open  insurrection  against  the  commandant  Villar- 
roel,  and  the  fort  itself  was  burnt;  but  it  was  soon  rebuilt,  and 
others  wrere  erected  as  advanced  works  on  each  side  of  the  river 
at  its  mouth.  The  Indians  also,  having  by  this  time  become 
very  inimical  to  the  Spaniards  in  consequence  of  the  cruelty  and 
indignity  with  which  they  were  treated  by  the  soldiers,  made  fre 
quent  incursions  on  St.  Augustine,  where  they  killed  the  senti 
nels  and  stragglers  from  the  garrison,  and  sometimes  set  fire  to 
the  houses. 

Menendez  however  by  his  energy  and  skill  in  managing  men 
overcame  all  these  difficulties;  and  in  1567  he  formed  two  other 
settlements,  on  the  coast  north  of  the  San  Matheo,  one  at  Santa 
Helena,  and  the  other  on  an  island  near  the  mainland  farther  south 
called  Guale,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  same  now  known  as 
St.  Catherine's  Island.  He  also  caused  the  coasts  to  be  explored 
with  care,  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Florida,  northward  to 
the  latitude  of  37 1-  degrees,  where  a  great  bay  was  discovered 
(if  not  previously  known)  opening  to  the  ocean  by  a  wide  en 
trance,  and  receiving  the  waters  of  many  large  rivers.  This  bay, 
named  by  the  Spaniards  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  was  of  course  the 
Chesapeake.  In  1566,  a  vessel  was  sent  by  Menendez  from  St. 
Augustine  with  a  number  of  men  to  form  a  colony  on  its  shore; 
but  the  crew  mutinied  ere  they  reached  the  place  of  their  des  • 
tination,  and  carried  the  vessel  to  Spain,  where  the  priests  who 
were  on  board  as  missionaries  justified  their  conduct. 

The  Adelantado  also  endeavored  to  form  similar  establishments 
on  the  west  side  of  the  peninsula,  where  he  supposed  his  son  to 
be  held  in  captivity ;  and  with  this  view,  he  erected  forts  at  the 
Bay  of  Calos  or  Carlos,  now  Charlotte  Harbor,  and  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tocobaga  river,  now  called  the  Suwannee,  entering  the 
Mexican  Gulf  at  its  north-western  angle,  which  was  then  known 
19 


146  EXPEDITION    OF    DE    GOURGUES.  [1567. 

as  the  Port  of  Espiritu  Santo.*  These  places  were  however 
all  abandoned  in  a  short  time,  in  consequence  of  the  animosity 
of  the  natives  towards  the  Spaniards,  and  the  insufficiency  of 
the  supplies  obtained  from  the  surrounding  countries. 

In  the  meantime,  the  settlements  of  the  Spaniards  on  the  east 
coast  of  Florida  had  sustained  a  rude  shock,  and  narrowly 
escaped  destruction,  during  the  absence  of  Menendez  in  1567. 

The  barbarous  proceedings  of  the  Spaniards  in  Florida,  when 
they  first  became  known  in  France,  excited  the  utmost  indigna 
tion  throughout  the  kingdom;  but  the  mutual  animosity  between 
the  Protestants  and  Catholics  was  so  great,  that  the  desire  for 
revenge  was  soon  confined  to  the  former,  while  the  Catholics 
in  general  regarded  the  destruction  of  their  countrymen  with 
satisfaction.  The  young  king,  now  almost  a  man,  had  advanced 
rapidly  in  bigotry,  falsehood  and  cruelty ;  and  his  mother,  Cathe 
rine  de  Medici,  who  governed  him  entirely,  was  engaged  in  ar 
ranging  writh  her  son-in-law,  the  king  of  Spain,  measures  for  the 
extermination  of  the  reformers  in  France  and  the  Netherlands. 
Under  such  circumstances,  it  may  be  supposed  that  little  regard 
was  paid  to  the  petition  addressed  to  the  throne  on  the  22d  of 
May,  1566,  by  the  relations  and  friends  of  the  murdered  colonists, 
for  the  exaction  of  atonement  from  Spain  ;  and  it  was  left  for  a 
few  private  individuals,  to  attempt  what  should  have  been  done 
by  the  government,  in  vindication  of  the  honor  of  France. 

This  task  was  undertaken  by  Dominique  de  Gourgues,  a  gen 
tleman  of  Gascony,  who  had  distinguished  himself  on  sea  and  on 
land,  in  wars  witty  the  Spaniards  and  the  Turks;  and  who,  though 
a  Roman  Catholic  in  religion,  yet  felt  deeply  the  wrongs  of  his 
countrymen,  and  determined  so  far  as  possible  to  avenge  them. 
For  this  purpose  he  sold  his  estates,  with  the  proceeds  from  which 
he  fitted  out  three  small  vessels,  and  having  manned  them  with  two 
hundred  bold  men  carefully  selected,  he  sailed  from  France  in 
August,  1567.  Of  those  on  board,  a  small  number  only  were 
acquainted  with  the  real  object  of  the  voyage,  which  was  osten 
sibly  intended  for  the  African  coasts:  on  the  others,  however,  De 
Gourgues  knew  that  he  could  depend ;  and  when,  after  passing 
around  the  south  side  of  Cuba,  and  entering  the  Bahama  channel, 

*The  Spaniards  named  this  river  San  Juan,  which  the  Indians  corrupted  into 
Suwannee.     It  is  frequently  called  the  Apalache  in  the  old  maps. 


1568.]  LANDING    OF    BE    GOURGUES    IN    FLORIDA.  147 

he  unfolded  his  real  intentions,  the  whole  company  with  one 
voice  declared  their  readiness  to  prosecute  the  enterprise  to  the 
death.* 

The  French  vessels  made  the  land  of  Florida  near  St.  Augus 
tine  ;  and  passing  in  sight  of  that  place,  and  of  the  mouth  of  the 
river  of  May,  or  San  Matheo,  they  anchored  farther  north,  in  the 
stream  which  had  received  from  Ribault  the  name  of  the  Seine, 
probably  the  same  now  called  the  Nassau.  Here  they  were  soon 
surrounded  by  Indians,  among  whom  were  several  of  the  most 
powerful  chiefs  of  the  country,  all  seeming  to  be  animated  by  feel 
ings  of  extreme  hatred  against  the  Spaniards,  and  professing  their 
readiness  to  aid  the  French  in  the  prosecution  of  their  project  of 
revenge.  De  Gourgues  employed  every  means  to  conciliate  thes-e 
people,  in  which  he  was  materially  aided  by  Pierre  de  Bre,  one 
of  his  countrymen,  who  escaped  from  Fort  Caroline  at  the  time 
of  its  capture,  and  had  ever  since  lived  among  the  savages ;  and 
having  obtained  sufficient  information  as  to  the  numbers  and  con 
dition  of  the  Spaniards,  he  determined  to  wait  until  the  following 
spring,  before  making  his  attack  upon  them. 

In  the  middle  of  April,  1568,  De  Gourgues,  with  his  followers 
and  their  Indian  allies,  began  their  offensive  movement  against 
the  Spaniards,  who,,  as  already  said,  occupied  Fort  San  Matheo, 
on  the  site  of  Fort  Caroline,  and  two  smaller  forts,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  river,  near  its  mouth.  The  three  French  vessels  were 
securely  moored  in  the  stream  where  they  first  anchored ;  and  all 
the  men  who  could  be  taken  from  them,  having  been  placed  in 
boats,  built  for  the  purpose,  wTere  thus  conveyed  along  the  coast 
to  the  mouth  of  another  stream  or  inlet  a  little  farther  south. 
There  the  forces  were  landed,  and  commenced  their  march  towards 
the  Spanish  fort,  on  the  north  side  of  the  San  Matheo,f  to  which 
river  the  boats  were  also  to  proceed,  sa  as  to  reach  it  at  a  time 
appointed. 

*  Two  French  accounts  of  this  expedition  have  been  published ;  one  in  the 
"  Histoire  notable  de  la  Floride,"  already  mentioned,  and  the  other  in  the  collec 
tion  of  .papers  relative  to  America,  by  Ternaux  Compans,  entitled  "La  reprinse 
de  la  Floride  par  le  Cappitaine  Gourgues ;"  in  addition  to  which,  we  have  the 
Spanish  account  in  Barcia's  "Ensayo  Chronologico." 

f  This  fort  was  no  doubt  situated  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  small  island 
now  called  St.  George  or  Fort  George,  on  the  north  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
John. 


148  DE    GOURGUES    TAKES    THE    FORTS.  [1558. 

In  this  manner  the  French  and  Indians  arrived  at  break  of  day, 
on  Sunday  after  Easter,  in  sight  of  the  first  Spanish  fort,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river,  near  its  mouth,  which  had  not  been  then 
completed.  They  were*  soon  observed  by  a  sentinel,  who  fired  his 
piece  twice,  in  token  of  alarm ;  but  ere  he  could  again  load  it, 
he  was  transfixed  by  the  spear  of  a  savage  chief,  and  the  French 
rushing  through  an  opening  in  the  rampart,  were  masters  of  the 
place.  The  Spaniards,  about  sixty  in  number,  were  put  to  the 
sword,  with  the  exception  of  fifteen,  who  were  reserved  for  a 
more  solemn  occasion ;  and  the  boats  having  by  this  time  arrived, 
as  directed,  the  victors  rapidly  moved  in  them  across  the  river  to 
attack  the  fort  on  the  southern  bank,  which  was  in  like  man 
ner  soon  taken,  and  all  its  defenders,  except  the  same  number 
of  fifteen,  were  put  to  the  sword. 

De  Gourgues  then  prepared  for  the  great  object,  the  capture  of 
the  main  fort,  occupying  the  spot  which  had  been  rendered  sacred 
in  the  eyes  of  the  French,  by  the  butchery  of  their  countrymen. 
The  Spaniards  in  rebuilding  this  fort,  had  extended  and 
strengthened  its  works  considerably;  and  it  was  defended  by  two 
hundred  and  sixty  men,  under  Gonzalo  de  Villarroel,  one  of  the 
most  trusted  officers  of  Menendez.  De  Gourgues  obtained  some 
information  respecting  it  from  his  prisoners ;  and  having  recon 
noitred  it  himself  and  estimated  the  height  of  the  palisades,  he 
caused  ladders  of  length  sufficient  to  surmount  them,  to  be  pre 
pared  for  an  assault.  Villarroel  in  the  meantime  sent  out  sixty 
men  to  make  observations,  who  being  perceived  on  their  ap 
proach  by  the  French,  were  cut  off  and  nearly  all  slain.  The 
Spanish  commandant  upon  this  saw  no  safety  except  in  flight,  and 
he  accordingly  evacuated  the  place  at  once,  with  all  his  able 
bodied  troops;  but  they  were  pursued  and  harrassed  by  their 
enemies  so  closely,  that  a  small  number  only  succeeded  in  reach 
ing  St.  Augustine. 

The  French  on  taking  possession  of  Fort  San  Matheo,  found 
it  well  supplied  with  arms,  ammunition,  and  other  necessaries. 
Of  these  articles  some  were  transferred  to  the  French  vessels, 
and  others  were  distributed  among  the  Indians;  but  ere  they 
could  be  all  thus  appropriated,  the  buildings  took  fire  by  accident, 
and  were  soon  entirely  consumed.  De  Gourgues  thereupon 
considering  his  force  insufficient  for  an  attack  on  St.  Augustine, 


1568.]  VENGEANCE  OF  THE  FRENCH.  149 

prepared  for  his  return  to  France ;  before  doing  which,  he  how 
ever  performed,  what  he  regarded  as  a  solemn  duty.  The  sur 
viving  Spanish  prisoners,  amounting  in  number  to  nearly  a  hun 
dred,  were  led  forth  in  front  of  the  ruins  of  the  fort;  and  after 
an  address  had  been  delivered  to  them  by  the  victor,  on  the 
enormity  of  the  crimes,  which  they  had  committed  against  his 
countrymen,  they  were  all  hanged  on  the  same  trees,  which  had 
been  used  by  Menendez,  for  the  execution  of  the  French  three 
years  before.  The  avengers  then  sailed  for  France,  leaving  the 
trees  laden  with  their  ghastly  burthens,  over  which  appeared  a 
board  bearing  the  inscription,  "  Not  as  Spaniards  or  as  mariners, 
but  as  traitors,  robbers  and  assassins" 

Two  of  the  French  vessels  returned  to  France  in  safety;  the 
other  was  lost  on  the  way.  De  Gourgues  was  received  with  tri 
umph  by  the  Protestants  at  their  strong  hold  La  Rochelle ;  but  so 
soon  as  his  adventures  became  known  at  Paris,  a  price  was  set 
by  the  government  on  his  head,  and  he  was  obliged  to  secrete 
himself,  in  order  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  the  queen  mother 
and  her  party.  Fifteen  years  after,  he  was  engaged  by  the  pre 
tender  to  the  throne  of  Portugal,  to  conduct  an  expedition  for 
the  liberation  of  that  country  from  the  yoke  of  Spain ;  but  the 
enterprise  was  not  executed,  and  De  Gourgues  died  in  obscurity 
in  1582.  Reflections  on  the  morality  of  his  proceedings  in 
Florida,  would  be  out  of  place  here,  or  in  any  other  work  of  the 
present  day:  the  feelings  which  prompted  them,  find  a  response 
in  the  breast  of  almost  every  man ;  and  the  only  regret  which 
can  be  fairly  entertained,  is,  that  the  just  vengeance  of  the  French 
could  not  have  fallen  on  the  real  authors  of  the  butcheries  at  Fort 
Caroline  and  Matanzas  inlet,  as  well  as  on  their  miserable  in 
struments. 

The  Adelantado  Menendez,  on  his  arrival  in  Florida,  shortly 
after  these  events,  exerted  himself  to  repair  the  injuries  which 
had  been  inflicted  on  his  province  by  the  French ;  and  with  the 
aid  of  his  nephew  and  lieutenant,  Pedro  Menendez  Marquez,  he 
soon  succeeded  in  placing  the  country  in  a  better  state  of  defence 
than  it  had  been  in  before.  He  also  endeavored  to  extend  the 
Spanish  establishments  northward,  along  the  coast,  and  through 
the  interior,  with  which  object  he  prevailed  upon  the  general  of 
the  order  of  Jesuits,  to  direct  his  attention  to  that  quarter;  and 


150  HAWKINS    AT    SAN    JUAN    DE    ULUA.  [1569. 

several  missionary  and  exploring  expeditions  were  in  consequence 
made  by  the  followers  of  Loyola,  through  the  territories  between 
Santa  Helena  and  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  or  Chesapeake, 
which  were  called  the  Province  of  Axacan.  The  Jesuits  however 
gave  up  the  task  of  reducing  to  civilization  and  Christianity  the 
fierce  Yamassees  and  Catawbas,  who  occupied  that  part  of  Ame 
rica;  and  the  Fransciscans  who  next  entered  the  field  as  mis 
sionaries,  being  equally  unsuccessful,  the  attempt  was  abandoned. 

Whilst  these  events  were  in  progress  in  Florida,  others  took 
place  on  the  coast  of  Mexico,  which  led  to  results  no  less  impor 
tant  in  the  end,  with  regard  to  the  northern  division  of  the  New 
World.  The  Viceroy  of  New  Spain,  Luis  de  Velasco,  died  in 
1564,  and  the  government  was  administered  for  some  time  by 
the  Audiencia.  During  this  period,  a  charge  of  treason  was 
brought  against  the  Marquis  del  Valle,  son  and  heir  of  Cortes, 
for  an  alleged  attempt  to  establish  a  throne  for  himself  in  Mexico. 
He  was  seized,  imprisoned,  and  finally  driven  from  the  country 
by  ill  usage.  Two  of  his  intimate  friends  were  cruelly  executed  ; 
• — his  step-brother  was  tortured — nor  was  it  till  after  a  heavy  fine 
and  an  investigation  which  lasted  from  1567  to  1574  that  his 
sequestrated  estates,  sadly  wasted  by  the  crown's  officials,  were 
restored  to  him. 

From  the  investigations  respecting  this  affair,  it  appeared  that 
the  negroes,  of  whom  a  large  number  had  been  introduced  into 
Mexico  chiefly  by  the  English  traders,  were  all  engaged  in  the 
conspiracy ;  and  the  prohibitions  against  the  importation  of  Afri 
cans,  were  in  consequence  renewed  and  strengthened.  The 
traders,  however,  set  all  these  regulations  at  defiance,  and  in 
September,  1569,  John  Hawkins  arrived  with  five  ships,  laden 
with  slaves,  at  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  near  Vera  Cruz,  where  he 
began  to  land  them,  agreeably  to  a  secret  understanding  with 
the  officers  of  the  government.  Whilst  this  was  in  progress,  a 
large  Spanish  squadron  unexpectedly  appeared  from  Europe, 
bringing  Don  Martin  Henriques  de  Almanza,  as  Viceroy  of  New 
Spain,  who,  not  wishing  or  not  daring  to  tolerate  this  open  in 
fraction  of  the  laws,  endeavored,  at  first  by  dissimulation  and 
then  by  force,  to  obtain  possession  of  the  English  vessels.  A 
fierce  combat  ensued,  in  which  the  English,  as  usual,  displayed 
great  courage  and  skill,  and  destroyed  three  of  the  Spanish  ships, 


1574.]   COMBAT  BETWEEN  HAWKINS   AND  THE   SPANIARDS.        151 

but  the  same  number  having  been  also  lost  on  their  side, 
Hawkins  was  obliged  to  seek  safety  in  flight.  This  he  effected 
with  his  own  ship,  and  the  other  commanded  by  Francis  Drake,/ 
carrying  off  at  the  same  time  as  many  of  the  crews  of  the  de 
stroyed  vessels  as  could  be  taken  on  board;  and  running  along 
the  coast  towards  the  north,  they  reached  the  mouth  of  a  small 
river,  near  the  latitude  of  23|  degrees,  probably  the  Santander, 
in  which  they  anchored  in  order  to  obtain  water.  On  comparing 
the  stock  of  provisions  with  the  number  of  persons  who  were  to  be 
supplied,  it  became  evident  that  they  would  soon  be  reduced  to 
famine ;  and  a  hundred  Englishmen  were  in  consequence  landed 
on  the  coast,  after  which  the  ships  took  their  departure  for  Eng 
land,  where  they  arrived  in  safety.  The  unfortunate  individuals 
thus  left  on  the  sandy  shore  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  made  their 
way  with  great  difficulty  to  Panuco,  and  there  surrendered  them 
selves  as  prisoners  to  the  Spaniards ;  a  few  succeeded  in  returning 
to  their  own  country,  but  the  greater  part  remained  as  captives 
in  Mexico,  during  the  rest  of  their  lives.* 

Upon  the  report  of  these  occurrences  to  the  Spanish  govern 
ment,  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  was  instructed  immediately  to 
fortify  the  island  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  in  order  to  afford  protec 
tion  to  the  ships  which  were  obliged  to  lie  between  it  and  the 
mainland,  from  the  want  of  secure  anchorage  at  Vera  Cruz;  and 
a  castle  was  accordingly  begun  on  that  spot,  which  successive 
additions  have  rendered  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  redoubt 
able  fortresses  in  the  world.  The  combat  which  led  to  this  mea 
sure,  was  thte  earliest  notable  collision  between  the  English  and 
the  Spaniards  in  the  New  World.  Hawkins  was  utterly  ruined 
in  fortune  by  his  misadventure,  and  did  not  again  appear  on  the 
sea  until  he  was  called  forth  for  the  defence  of  his  country  against 
the  threatened  invasion  from  Spain  in  1589:  but  his  lieutenant, 
Francis  Drake,  vowed  eternal  vengeance  and  hatred  against 
the  whole  Spanish  nation;  and  how  his  vow  was  kept,  ever) 

*  Hakluyt,  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Collection,  presents  the  narratives  of 
several  of  these  men,  who  escaped  from  their  captivity  in  Mexico,  and  returned 
to  their  country.  Four  of  those  who  were  landed  on  the  coast,  are  also  said  to 
have  made  their  way  northward  through  the  continent  to  the  vicinity  of  New 
foundland,  and  thence  to  have  passed  in  a  French  vessel  to  Europe;  but  the  evi 
dence  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  establish  the  truth  of  so  extraordinary  a  story. 


152  DEATH    OF    PEDRO    MENENDEZ.  [1574, 

'subject  of  king  Philip,  from  Chili  to  California  and  Florida,  was 
enabled  to  testify. 

In  the  meantime,  Pedro  Menendez  made  many  visits  to  Spain, 
and  on  each  occasion  he  was  received  by  his  sovereign  with  all 
the  honors  to  which  his  distinguished  services  entitled  him.  In 
1569,  a  letter  was  addressed  to  him  by  Pope  Pius  V.,  the  arch 
enemy  of  the  religious  reformers,  commending  his  zealous  con 
duct,  in  exterminating  the  heretics  in  Florida,  and  exhorting  him 
to  persevere  in  the  same  meritorious  course.  In  1572,  he  had 
the  satisfaction  to  learn  that  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  of  the 
hated  Huguenots,  had  been  sacrificed  by  the  hands  of  their  coun 
trymen  in  France,  and  he  was  soon  after  appointed  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  great  armada,  in  preparation  for  the  conquest  of 
England ;  but  he  was  prevented  from  taking  part  in  that  holy 
enterprise  by  death,  which  overcame  this  doughty  champion  of 
the  Church  at  Corunna,  in  September,  1574,  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age.  His  body  rests  in  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas, 
in  his  native  town  of  Aviles;  his  name  will  live  for  ever  in  the 
history  of  the  New  World,  in  consequence  not  only  of  his  barbar 
ous  proceedings  in  Florida,  but  also  of  his  having  founded  the 
first  settlement  which  has  subsisted,  in  the  vast  division  now 
forming  the  Republic  of  the  United  States.* 

*  The  extent  of  the  information  with  regard  to  America,  possessed  in  Europe 
at  this  period,  is  best  indicated  by  the  maps  of  the  celebrated  Flemish  geogra 
pher,  Abraham  Ortelius,  first  published  at  Antwerp  in  1572.  The  Gulf  of  Mexico 
is  there  represented  with  considerable  approach  to  correctness  of  outline ;  as 
much  indeed,  as  in  any  map  anterior  to  1700.  The  River  of  Palms  appears  fol 
lowing  the  course,  and  entering  the  Gulf  near  the  position  of  the  Rio  Bravo ;  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo  is  made  to  enter  a  bay  called  Bay  de  la  Cu- 
lata,  some  distance  west  of  the  true  position  of  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi :  other 
streams  seem  to  correspond  with  the  Colorado,  the  Brazos,  the  Mississippi,  the 
Alabama  and  the  Apalachicola,  though  none  of  them  are  given  as  very  large. 
Farther  north,  the  general  direction  of  the  Atlantic  coast  is  delineated  with  tol 
erable  accuracy,  and  Newport  harbor  is  clearly  designated.  The  St.  Lav/rence 
is  much  exaggerated  in  length  at  the  expense  of  the  great  lakes,  which  seem  to 
have  been  then  unknown ;  Hudson's  Bay  and  Straits,  and  Baffin's  Bay,  are  ex 
hibited  in  a  manner  so  nearly  correct,  that  no  doubt  can  exist  of  their  having 
been  explored  long  before  the  period  at  which  they  are  usually  supposed  to  have 
been  discovered.  On  the  Pacific  side,  the  coast  of  the  continent  is  made  to  stretch 
north-westward  to  the  43rd  degree  of  latitude,  and  thence  to  run  to  the  north- 
cast,  as  far  as  the  70th  parallel,  under  which  the  two  oceans  are  joined  by  a  long 
and  narrow  strait. 


CHAPTER    V. 


1574    TO     1  672. 


EXTENSION  OF  THE  SPANISH  SETTLEMENTS  NORTHWARD  FROM 
MEXICO — OCCUPATION  OF  THE  ATLANTIC  COASTS  OF  NORTH 
AMERICA  AND  THE  WEST  INDIA  ISLANDS  BY  THE  ENGLISH, 
THE  FRENCH,  AND  THE  DUTCH. 

DURING  the  century  immediately  following  the  events  last  men 
tioned,  scarcely  a  single  occurrence  worthy  of  note  took  place  in 
any  of  the  countries  to  which  this  history  relates.  The  small 
colonies  or  posts  founded  by  the  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine, 
Guale  and  Santa  Helena  were  maintained,  though  with  great  dif 
ficulty  and  cost;  but  the  regions  farther  west  beyond  their  imme 
diate  vicinity  were  left  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  abori 
gines.  Many  changes  had  however  been  effected  in  the  regions 
farther  north  bordering  upon  the  Atlantic,  of  which  it  will  be 
necessary  to  present  a  sketch,  in  order  to  explain  the  circumstances 
attending  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  the  vast  territories 
drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributary  rivers. 

Cotemporary  with  the  events  last  mentioned  in  Florida  were 
others  of  the  most  important  nature  in  Europe.  In  1569,  took 
place  the  insurrection  in  the  Netherlands,  induced  by  the  efforts 
of  Philip  II.  to  establish  the  inquisition  in  that  part  of  his  do 
minions,  which  ended  in  the  liberation  of  the  seven  northern 
provinces,  and  their  union  in  a  republican  confederacy,  under 
the  pledge  of  enmity  to  Spain.  The  religious  reformation  in 
France,  was  indeed  crushed  by  the  massacre  of  the  Huguenots, 
begun  on  the  eve  of  St.  Bartholomew  in  1572:  but  England 
thereby  became  the  strong  hold  of  Protestantism,  and  her  whole 
20 


154  RISE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    FREEBOOTERS.  [1572. 

people  were  the  more  firmly  bound  together  against  Spain,  as 
the  great  supporter  of  the  uncompromising  Church  of  Rome. 
On  the  other  hand,  Spain  and  France  were  brought  into  close 
alliance  after  the  death  of  Charles  IX.,  who  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother  Henry  III.  in  1574;  and  the  Spanish  king  moreover 
obtained  the  crown  of  Portugal,  which  rendered  him  the  sole  pos 
sessor  of  the  New  World,  as  wTell  as  of  the  East  Indies — so  far 
at  least  as  Papal  Bulls  could  substantiate  his  claims. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  sovereigns  of  England  and 
Spain  were  soon  at  variance;  and  then  commenced  that  series  of 
acts  of  violence,  wrhich  continued  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
almost  uninterruptedly,  to  stain  the  West  Indian  seas  writh  the 
blood  of  the  people  of  those  nations,  supplying  England  with 
her  best  and  most  daring  seamen,  and  daily  reducing  the  power 
of  Spain  in  the  New  World  as  well  as  in  Europe.  The  first 
expedition  of  the  English  against  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  In 
dies,  was  begun  in  1572,  under  the  command  of  Drake,  who  in  that 
and  the  two  following  years  spread  desolation  along  the  coasts 
of  Carthagena  and  Darien.  In  1575,  Oxenham,  one  of  the  com 
panions  of  Drake,  crossed  the  isthmus  of  Panama  with  a  number 
of  men,  and  first  displayed  the  flag  of  his  nation  on  the  Pacific ; 
and  three  years  afterwrards  that  flag  was  carried  by  Drake  through 
the  neglected  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  along  the  whole  coast 
northward  to  California,  on  every  point  of  which,  its  appearance 
was  the  prelude  to  devastation.  Drake  returned  to  England 
through  the  East  Indies  and  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
having  been  the  first  to  circumnavigate  the  earth  in  one  and  the 
same  vessel;  and  in  1585  he  began  his  great  and  most  terrible 
visitation  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
sacked  the  large  and  rich  cities  of  Santo  Domingo  and  Cartha 
gena,  and  destroyed  the  little  capital  of  Florida.  On  this  latter 
occasion,  the  English  entered  first  into  the  river  of  May  or  San 
Matheo,  (now  the  St.  John,)  from  which  the  Spanish  forces 
retired  on  their  appearance.  Drake  then  proceeded  to  St.  Augus 
tine,  under  the  guidance  of  a  Frenchman,  and  having  surprised 
the  fort  in  which  were  found  some  cannon  and  money,  he  burnt 
the  town  and  sailed  northward  for  Santa  Helena;  but  the  winds 
being  unfavorable  for  his  landing  at  that  place,  he  left  it  undis 
turbed,  and  continued  his  voyage  along  the  coast. 


1575.]  SEARCH    FOR   A    NORTH-WEST    PASSAGE.  155 

The  English  were  at  the  same  period,  engaged  in  other  ex 
peditions,  which  proved  in  the  end  still  more  detrimental  to  the 
Spanish  supremacy  in  the  New  World.  The  examinations  of 
the  coasts  and  interior  regions  of  America  made  by  the  Spaniards 
had  supplied  a  vast  amount  of  geographical  knowledge,  which 
was  rendered  accessible  to  all,  by  the  publication  of  many  histo 
ries,  journals,  and  maps  relating  to  that  division  of  the  earth,  in 
the  English  and  French  as  well  as  in  the  Spanish  and  Italian  lan 
guages.*  That  the  new  continent  extended  unbroken  from  Magel 
lan's  Strait  northward  at  least  as  far  as  the  43d  degree  of  north 
latitude,  had  thus  been  demonstrated;  beyond  that  parallel,  it 
was  by  some  supposed  to  join  Asia  in  the  north-west,  while 
others  still  believed  that  the  two  continents  might  be  separated 
by  a  navigable  channel,  uniting  the  Atlantic  with  the  Pacific,  in 
such  a  position  as  to  afford  the  most  direct  route  for  intercourse, 
between  Europe  and  the  East  Indies.  The  Spanish  government 
had,  as  already  said,  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  that  the  discovery 
of  such  a  channel,  would  be  fatal  to  its  monopoly  of  the  coasts 
and  trade  of  the  Pacific,  which  was  considered  essential  to  the 
subsistence  of  its  dominion  in  the  New  World;  but  the  same 


*  Among  these  works,  were  the  Decades  of  Peter  Martyr — the  general  his 
tories  of  the  Indies,  by  Oviedo  and  Gomara — the  narratives  and  tracts  of  Las 
Casas,  relating  especially  to  the  ill  treatment  of  the  Indians  by  the  Spaniards — 
the  narrative  of  the  expedition  of  Narvaez,by  Cabeza  de  Vaca — the  Portu 
guese  narrative  of  the  expedition  of  Soto — and  various  works,  respecting  Peru, 
Mexico  and  other  parts  of  the  New  World,  of  which  translations  either  of  the 
whole  or  of  parts,  soon  after  appeared  in  the  English,  French,  German,  and 
Italian  languages.  The  first  four  Decades  of  Peter  Martyr  were  translated  into 
English,  by  Richard  Eden,  and  published  with  many  extracts  from  Oviedo,  and 
other  Spanish  authors,  at  London  in  1555;  and  were  afterwards  incorporated 
in  the  "History  of  Travayle,"  by  Willes  in  1577. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  the  history  and  geography  made  at 
this  period,  was  however  the  Collection  of  voyages,  journals,  letters,  tracts  and 
other  papers,  published  in  Italian,  at  Venice,  between  1554  and  1565,  by  G.  B. 
Ramusio,  in  three  folio  volumes,  of  which  the  last  is  devoted  almost  entirely  to 
the  New  World,  and  contains  the  Decades  of  Peter  Martyr,  the  Despatches  of 
Cortes  to  Charles  V.,  the  History  of  the  Indies  by  Oviedo,  and  many  curious  and 
interesting  accounts,  then  for  the  first  time  given  to  the  public.  The  similar  col 
lections  of  Hakluyt  and  De  Bry  were  not  begun  until  a  later  period. 

Of  the  maps  of  the  New  World  which  appeared  at  this  time,  the  one  most," 
worthy  of  note  as  approaching  most  nearly  to  accuracy,  is  that  contained  in  the 
atlas  of  the  celebrated  Flemish  geographer,  Ortelius,  entitled,  "Theatrum  orbis 
terr-u-um,"  already  mentioned  at  page  152,  as  published  at  Antwerp  in  1572. 


156  SEARCH    FOR    A    NORTH-WEST    PASSAGE.  [1578. 

consideration  necessarily  rendered  the  rivals  and  enemies  of  Spain, 
desirous  to  obtain  access  to  that  ocean,  which  for  some  time 
formed  the  great  object  of  the  speculations  and  expeditions  of 
the  English  and  subsequently  of  the  Dutch,  or  people  of  the 
United  Netherlands,  who  rose  to  eminence  as  a  naval  power, 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  their  independence. 

The  expeditions  of  the  English  for  the  discovery  of  a  northern 
channel  of  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 
were  at  first  directed  eastward,  around  the  northern  extremities 
of  Europe ;  in  this  course,  they  however  advanced  no  farther, 
than  Nova  Zernbla,  and  the  Dutch  who  followed  them  were 
equally  unsuccessful.  The  English  then  turned  their  attention 
towards  the  north-western  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  exploration  of 
which  was  begun,  or  rather  resumed,  by  Frobisher  in  1576;  and 
he  was  followed -by  Davis,  Hudson,  Button,  Baffin,  and  others, 
who  within  the  ensuing  fifty  years  examined  every  inlet  and 
opening  in  that  quarter,  seeming  to  promise  a  free  passage  for 
their  vessels  towards  the  west.  These  voyages,  though  ineffec 
tual  as  regards  the  attainment  of  the  proposed  object,  were  nev 
ertheless  productive  of  great  advantages,  by  the  increase  of  geo 
graphical  knowledge,  and  the  improvements  in  nautical  science 
and  practice  which  resulted  from  them ;  whilst  they  at  the  same 
time  powerfully  excited  among  the  English,  that  spirit  of  mari 
time  adventure,  on  the  subsistence  of  which,  the  security  and 
superiority  of  their  nation  so  essentially  depends. 

The  English  and  the  Dutch  were  the  only  European  nations 
which  engaged  in  the  search  for  new  passages  to  the  Pacific  ; 
unless  perhaps  the  Danes  may  have  had  that  object  in  view,  in 
their  expeditions  beyond  Greenland,  made  at  the  same  period. 
The  French  were  then  fully  equal,  if  not  superior  to  either  of  the 
other  nations,  in  commercial  as  well  as  in  military  marine,  and 
they  conducted  the  greater  part  of  the  fishery  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland ;  but  they  were  probably  restrained  by  the  alliance 
between  their  government  and  that  of  Spain,  from  attempting  the 
exploration  of  the  western  coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  with  the  above 
mentioned  object. 

Connected  with  the  endeavors  of  the  English,  to  discover  new 
passages  to  th.e  Pacific,  was  their  desire  to  plant  colonies  in 
America,  which  was  encouraged  as  much  as  possible,  by  queen 


1583.]  ENGLISH  COLONY    IN    NEWFOUNDLAND.  157 

Elizabeth.  In  1578,  she  granted  a  commission  to  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert,  similar  to  those  given  to  the  Spanish  Adelantados,  au 
thorising  him  to  discover  and  occupy  any  lands  not  actually  pos 
sessed  by  a  Christian  prince  or  people,  and  to  hold  them  forever, 
or  to  dispose  of  them  to  other  British  subjects,  who  might  in  like 
manner  hold  them,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  realm,  on  condi 
tion  of  paying  to  the  crown  one-fifth  of  all  the  precious  metals, 
derived  from  them.  There  was  however  great  difficulty  in  as 
sembling  the  men  and  materials,  required  for  a  colony ;  nor  was 
any  expedition  made  for  the  purpose,  until  after  Elizabeth's  cele 
brated  declaration  to  the  Spanish  government  in  1580 — that  she 
recognised  no  right  in  that  power,  to  places,  other  than  those 
actually  possessed  by  it,  and  that  she  would  protect  her  subjects 
by  every  means  in  her  power,  in  their  trade  and  settlement  in  the 
New  World. 

.  Gilbert  at  length  departed  in  1583,  with  five  vessels  and  two 
hundred  and  sixty- men,  for  Newfoundland;  the  coasts  of  which 
being  already  much  frequented  by  Europeans  engaged  in  the 
cod  fishery,  it  was  supposed  that  a  settlement  made  there  at  some 
convenient  point  would  enjoy  great  arid  immediate  advantages 
in  trade.  The  colonists  were  accordingly  landed  in  August,  in 
the  harbor  of  St.  John,  near  the  south-east  extremity  of  the  is 
land,  where  possession  was  formally  taken  in  the  name  of  the 
queen;  lands  were  then  allotted,  and  laws  were  published  for 
the  government  of  the  country,  after  which  the  proprietor  began 
to  seek  for  mines  of  gold  and  silver.  In  the  meantime,  the 
people  became  discontented  and  mutinous ;  sickness  wasted  their 
strength,  and  their  provisions  being  moreover  insufficient,  for 
their  support  during  the  winter,  it  was  determined  that  they 
should  go  back  to  Europe.  The  whole  company  accordingly 
re-embarked,  before  the  end  of  the  same  month  for  England,  on 
the  way  to  which,  Gilbert's  vessel,  with  all  on  board,  disappear 
ed  in  a  violent  storm. 

A  similar  commission  to  make  settlements  in  America,  was 
granted  after  the  death  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  to  his  half 
brother  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who  in  1584,  and  the  six  following 
years  sent  several  vessels  to  form  establishments  in  the  country, 
now  composing  the  eastern  part  of  North  Carolina.  To  this  coun 
try  the  name  of  Virginia  was  given,  in  commemoration  of  the  mai- 


158  RALEIGH'S  COLONIES  IN  VIRGINIA.  [1585. 

denly  virtues  of  the  English  queen.  The  spot  selected  for  the  first 
settlement,  was  Roanoke  island,  in  the  passage  connecting  the 
two  great  bays,  now  called,  Albemarle  Sound,  and  Pamlico 
Sound,  which  receive  the  waters  of  the  Chowan,  the  Roanoke, 
the  Tar,  the  Neuse,  and  other  large  rivers;  and  more  than  a  hun 
dred  persons  were  established  there  in  1585,  under  the  direction 
of  Ralph  Lane.  The  colonists  however  soon  began  to  suffer 
from  want  of  food,  and  became  involved  in  difficulties  with  the 
natives  of  the  surrounding  country,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  lost  their  spirits  and  capacity  for  exertion;  and  when  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  on  returning  from  his  famous  expedition  through 
the  West  Indies  already  mentioned,  visited  their  settlement  in 
July,  1586,  he  found  them  in  so  pitiable  condition,  that  he  yield 
ed  to  their  entreaties,  and  carried  them  all  back  to  England.  In 
the  next  two  years,  Raleigh  sent  other  parties  of  colonists,  who  were 
established  at  the  same  place  by  his  agent  John  White :  but  the 
alarm  then  excited  in  England  by  the  Spanish  armada,  prevented 
any  farther  communication  with  Virginia  until  1590;  and  on  the 
return  of  White  to  Roanoke,  in  that  year,  with  supplies,  the  place 
was  found  deserted,  and  nothing  could  be  learned  respecting  the 
fate  of  its  former  occupants. 

Disheartened  by  these  failures,  Raleigh  did  not  renew  his  at 
tempts  to  plant  colonies  in  North  America;  and  though  several 
voyages  were  made  with  that  object,  to  the  coasts  farther  north, 
by  the  English  and  the  French,  no  establishment  of  a  permanent 
character,  w^s  effected  by  either  of  those  or  any  other  European 
nation,  north  of  the  Spanish  settlements  in  Florida,  before  1604. 
The  injuries  inflicted  on  the  latter  settlements  by  Drake  were 
soon  repaired,  and  the  colony  was  maintained;  but  it  never 
prospered,  and  the  heirs  of  Pedro  Menendez  derived  very  little 
advantage  from  it,  in  return  for  the  exertions  and  expenses 
of  the  Adelantado  in  its  establishment.  The  city  of  Santo 
Domingo,  which  had  been  nearly  destroyed  by  the  English  in 
the  same  expedition,  did  not  recover  its  former  superiority,  over 
the  other  places  in  the  West  Indian  archipelago ;  and  it  was 
soon  surpassed  by  Havanna,  which  became  the  most  important 
point  in  that  group. 

The  Spaniards  were  at  the  same  period  extending  their  dis 
coveries  and  settlements  from  Mexico,  northward,  along  the  great 


1585.]  DISCOVERY    OF    NEW    MEXICO.  159 

chain  of  mountains,  which  divides  the  waters  flowing  to  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  from  those  falling  into  the  Pacific  and  the  Gulf  of 
California.  The  wide  territory  midway  between  these  two  gulfs, 
then  called  New  Biscay,  and  now  divided  into  Durango  and 
Chihuahua,  had  been  as  already  mentioned  occupied  before  the 
middle  of  the  century;  and  from  its  mines  was  drawn  a  large  pro 
portion  of  the  silver  sent  to  Europe.  This  region  is  bounded  on 
the  north  and  east,  by  extensive  deserts  containing  only  a  few 
spots  fit  for  cultivation.  In  1581  however,  father  Augustin  Ruiz 
or  Rodriguez,  a  Franciscan,  established  as  a  missionary  in  the 
valley  of  San  Bartolome,  having  been  informed  by  the  Indians 
that  fertile  and  populous  countries  abounding  in  mines  were  to  be 
found  farther  north,  followed  the  river  Conchos  which  traverses 
that  valley  down  to  its  junction  with  a  much  larger  stream,  flow 
ing  from  the  .north.  Of  this  discovery  r/e  sent  information  to 
Mexico;  and  being  joined  by  two  other  friars,  they  continued 
their  researches  for  some  months,  until  they  were  all  killed  by 
the  natives. 

The  Count  de  Coruna,  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  on  being  informed 
of  the  discoveries  of  the  friars,  immediately  despatched  Antonio 
de  Espejo,  with  a  small  force  in  the  direction  indicated;  and  that 
officer  in  1583,  traced  the  large  river  named  by  him  Rio  del 
Norte,  or  River  of  the  North,  to  its  sources  among  high  moun 
tains,  near  the  40th  degree  of  latitude.  The  country  thus 
traversed  by  Espejo,  though  presenting  only  a  narrow  strip,  on 
each  side  of  the  stream,  capable  of  supplying  vegetable  growth, 
was  thickly  inhabited  by  people,  who  dwelt  in  cities,  and  pos 
sessed  many  of  the  elements,  at  least,  of  civilization ;  and  being 
induced  to  believe  from  their  language,  and  customs,  that  they 
might  be  of  the  same  race,  which  was  found  by  the  Spaniards  in 
possession  of  Mexico  he  gave  the  name  of  New  Mexico  to  the 
whole  region.  Continuing  their  examinations  northward,  the 
Spaniards  reached  another  great  river,  named  by  them  Rio  de 
Vacas,  from  the  number  of  buffaloes  in  its  vicinity,  which  they 
descended  in  an  easterly  direction,  more  than  a  hundred  leagues, 
without  reaching  its  mouth  :  this  was  no  doubt  the  Arkansas ; 
from  the  Indians  they  received  accounts  of  other  large  streams, 
and  lakes,  and  of  rich  and  populous  countries,  situated  farther 
north,  but  no  attempts  were  made  to  discover  the.m. 


160         s".TTL!-::\iv.:\T  OF  NE\V  MEXICO  AND  NEW  LEON.     [1590. 

The  accounts  given  by  Espejo  of  the  fertility  of  New  Mexico, 
and  the  richness  of  its  mines,  soon  drew  thither  a  number  of  ad 
venturers,  who  uniting  in  a  body,  under  the  command  of  an  out 
law  named  Antonio  de  Leyva  Bonilla,  plundered  the  inhabitants 
and  even  endeavored  to  form  a  state  independent  of  the  authority 
of  Spain.  Luis  de  Velasco,  the  second  Viceroy  of  Mexico  of 
that  name,  however  prepared  a  small  but  well  appointed  force, 
under  the  command  of  Juan  de  Onate,  as  Adelantado  of  New 
Mexico,  and  the  rebels  woe  tiiu^  soon  brought  to  submission.* 
Colonists  weitt  thcjM!'li-o(Jiifvi!  from  Mexico;  and  in  1595,  the 
town  of  La  Santa  Fe,  was  founded  by  Onate,  on  a  small  stream, 
which  falls  into  the  Rio  del  Norte,  in  the  latitude  of  34  degrees 
41  minutes. 

The  territory  extending  eastward  from  New  Biscay  to  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  and  then  known  under  the  general  name  of  New 
Leon,  consists,  like  the  more  southern  parts  of  Mexico,  on  the 
same  side,  of  large  tracts  of  high  table  land,  surrounded  and  tra 
versed  by  mountain  ridges,  between  which  and  the  Gulf  lies  a 
lower  country  also  intersected  by  irregular  lines  of  mountain. 
This  region  contains  some  isolated  spots  of  no  great  extent, 
which  are  rendered  fertile  by  the  presence  of  streams  of  water, 
in  a  climate  eminently  favorable  to  vegetation ;  but  the  greater 
portion  is  irreclaimably  barren,  and  can  never  be  made  to  support 
a  population.  In  the  upper  country  however  are  many  mines 
of  silver  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Spaniards  about  the 
period  of  the  discovery  of  New  Mexico;  and  in  order  to  derive 
advantage  from  them,  settlements  were  formed,  for  the  most  part 
in  places  combining  the  advantages  of  a  productive  soil  with 
vicinity  to  these  depositories  of  precious  metal,  where  endeavors 
were  made  to  collect  the  natives  in  villages  under  the  direction 
of  missionaries,  with  the  object  of  thus  providing  in  time  a  suffi 
cient  supply  of  laborers.  In  this  manner,  San  Luis  de  Potosi 
was  founded  about  1590  by  the  Viceroy  Velasco,  who  also  estab 
lished  the  towns  of  Venado,  Charcas  and  Saltillo,  first  peopled  by 
emigrants  from  the  province  of  Tlascala;  and  the  same  plan  wras 
pursued  by  his  successor,  the  Count  de  Monterey,  under  whose 
government  arose  Tamaulipas,  Coahuila,  (now  Monclova)  and 

*  The  conquest  of  New  Mexico  by  Ofiate  was  the  subject  of  an  epic  poem  by 
Gaspar  de  Villagran,  Avhich  was  actually  printed  at  Alcala  in  1610. 


1600.]         SPANISH     VOYAGES    IN    THE    NORTH    PACIFIC.  161 

Monterey,  and  afterwards  Chihuahua  in  New  Biscay.  The  lower 
country  near  the  gulf  remained  unsettled  and  almost  unexplored 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  longer;  during  which,  Panuco 
near  the  present  town  of  Tampico,  continued  to  be  the  northern 
most  Spanish  port  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sea.  The  Count  de 
Monterey  also  in  1600  caused  a  new  city  to  be  commenced  on 
the  spot  first  chosen  by  Cortes,  opposite  the  island  and  castle  of 
San  Juan  de  Ulua,  to  which  the  name  of  Vera  Cruz  was  trans 
ferred  from  the  place  previously  so  called,  twelve  miles  farther 
north.  On  the  Pacific  side  of  New  Spain,  settlements  were  at  the 
same  period  made  in  Sonora,  the  region  bordering  upon  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Californian  Gulf,  in  which  many  places 
abounding  in  gold  (placeres)  were  discovered ;  attempts  were  like 
wise  made  to  occupy  the  Californian  peninsula,  but  they  proved 
abortive,  in  consequence  of  the  excessive  aridity  of  the  climate. 

The  endeavors  of  the  English  to  discover  a  north-west  passage 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  at  that  time  excited  the  utmost 
dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  court  of  Madrid;  and  ex 
peditions  were  directed  fro^n  the  western  coasts  of  Mexico, 
northward  in  order  that  if  such  a  channel  of  communication  be 
tween  the  two  seas  should  be  found,  it  might  if  possible  be  for 
tified,  so  as  to  prevent  other  nations  from  using  it  to  the  detri 
ment  of  Spain.  But  no  results  of  any  kind  were  derived  from 
the  voyages  undertaken  with  this  object;*  and  it  was  soon  after, 
generally  admitted  that  the  apprehensions  which  led  to  them 
were  groundless.  The  Spaniards  were  however  aroused  from 
their  quietude  in  this  respect, by  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the 
open  sea  south  of  Cape  Horn,  through  which  the  Dutch  first 
sailed  into  the  Pacific  in  1616;  and  the  provinces  of  the  Indies 
on  that  ocean,  were  ever  after  annoyed,  and  frequently  ravaged 
by  enemies  of  all  descriptions. 

In  the  meantime,  the  wars  which  had  so  long  desolated  Eu 
rope,  were  terminated ;  the  ambitious  and  unprincipled  sovereigns 
who  maintained  them  for  their  own  selfish  purposes  having  been 
succeeded  by  others,  of  more  reasonable  or  more  peaceful  dis 
positions.  In  France,  a  compromise  was  effected  between  the 
Catholics  and  the  Protestants,  by  the  wise  and  conciliatory  mea- 

*  Accounts  of  these  expeditions  will  be  found  in  the  second  chapter  of  the 
History  of  Oregon  and  California,  by  the  author  of  the  present  work. 

21 


162  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  IN  ACADIE.        [1504. 

sures  of  Henry  IV.,  which  restored  that  kingdom  to  its  former 
strength  and  influence,  and  enabled  it  to  counterbalance  the 
power  of  Spain.  In  the  latter  country,  the  ruthless  Philip  II. 
was  replaced  in  1599  by  his  lethargic  son,  Philip  III ;  and  the 
throne  of  turbulent  Elizabeth,  was  soon  after  filled  by  the  pedantic, 
timid  and  quiet-loving  James  I.  Treaties  of  amity  and  com 
merce  were  concluded  among  the  various  states  of  Europe,  and 
tranquillity  having  been  thus  completely  restored,  the  maritime 
nations  of  that  division  of  the  world,  again  turned  their  attention 
to  colonization. 

For  this  latter  object  circumstances  were  then  peculiarly  fa 
vorable.  Not  only  were  hopes  of  wealth  presented  to  capitalists, 
and  the  means  of  subsistence  to  laborers,  but  the  entire  cessation 
of  war  in  Europe  had  thrown  out  of  employ  a  number  of  daring 
adventurers,  ready  to  seize  any  opportunity  of  escaping  from  the 
insignificance  to  \vhich  peace  would  reduce  them;  whilst  reli 
gious  discontent  rendered  many  individuals  and  even  classes, 
anxious  to  quit  the  scenes  of  their  real,  or  fancied  humiliation.  To 
wards  North  America  as  being  most  accessible  were  all  the  projects 
of  colonization  directed.  The  French  led  the  way;  they  were  fol 
lowed  by  the  English  and  the  Dutch;  and  within  the  life-time  of 
the  first  adventurers,  the  settlements  of  those  nations,  extended 
at  short  distances  apart,  along  the  whole  coast,  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  Savannah.* 

The  earliest  of  these  settlements  were  formed  by  the  French 
in  1604,  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  peninsula  now  called  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  mainland  adjacent  on  the  east,  the  coasts  of 
which  had  been  explored  by  the  people  of  that  nation,  and  of 
England,  engaged  in  trade  or  fishing,  or  in  seeking  proper  places 
for  colonies,  during  the  latter  years  of  the  preceding  century. 
They  were  made,  in  virtue  of  a  commission,  granted  by  king 
Henry  IV.  to  Pierre  Demonts,  constituting  him  Lieutenant  General 

The  publication  of  Hakluyt's  celebrated  Collection,  entitled  "  The  principal 
navigations,  voyages,  traffiques,  and  discoveries  of  the  English  nation,"  of  which 
the  third  volume  printed  in  1599,  relates  almost  entirely  to  America,  contributed 
powerfully  to  foster  this  spirit  of  adventure  among  the  English.  De  Dry's  Col 
lection  published  in  Latin  at  Frankfort,  between  1590  and  1602,  also  had  great 
effect  in  making  the  New  World  known  in  Europe,  and  in  spreading  the  feeling 
of  detestation  towards  the  Spaniards,  through  that  continent. 


1607.]  ENGLISH    SETTLEMENTS    IK     VIRGINIA.  163 

of  the  country,  territory,  coasts  and  confines  of  Acadie,*  from 
the  40th  degree  of  latitude  to  the  46th.  In  1608,  Quebec  was 
founded  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  by  Champlain  one  of  the  as 
sociates  of  Demonts,  through  whose  care  and  energy,  the  su 
premacy  of  France  was  established  on  both  sides  of  the  river  as 
far  as  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  now  bearing  his  name.  For  these 
regions  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  old  appellation  of  Canada,  was 
revived,  that  of  Acadie  being  confined  to  the  country  farther 
south-east ;  and  the  whole  were  subsequently  comprehended  under 
the  general  name  of  New  France. 

The  English  rapidly  followed  the  French  in  the  career  of 
American  colonization.  In  1606,  king  James  I.  granted  by  a 
charter,  to  two  associations,  respectively  entitled  the  London 
Company  and  the  Plymouth  Company,  all  the  territories  in  that 
part  of  the  world,  "commonly  called  Virginia,  and  in  other 
parts,'7  not  then  actually  possessed  by  a  Christian  prince  or  peo 
ple,  included  between  the  34th  and  the  45th  parallels  of  north 
latitude:  the  London  Company  was  empowered  to  settle  any 
where  between  the  34th  and  the  40th  degrees,  and  the  other  as 
sociation  to  occupy  any  spot  from  the  38th  to  the  45th ;  the  space 
between  the  38th  and  the  40th,  being  left  open  to  both,  under 
certain  conditions.  In  virtue  of  this  charter,  the  London  Com 
pany  in  1607,  sent  out  several  vessels  with  emigrants  under 
Christopher  Newport  and  John  Smith,  who  made  a  settlement, 
named  by  them  Jamestown,  on  the  large  river  also  called  after 
their  sovereign,  emptying  into  the  south-west  part  of  Chesapeake 
Bay.  In  1609,  a  special  charter  was  granted  to  this  colony, 
which  was  styled  Virginia;  and  in  1612  a  third  charter  was  is 
sued,  entitling  the  company  to  hold  all  the  coasts  and  islands, 
within  two  hundred  miles  of  the  mouth  of  James  river,  and  all 
the  territories  thence  extending  west,  and  north-west,  to  the  Pa 
cific.  The  Plymouth  Company  also  attempted  in  1607  to  form 
an  establishment  on  the  Kennebeck  river;  but  the  place  was 
abandoned  in  the  following  year,  and  the  territory  which  that 
body  was  authorised  to  occupy,  remained  neglected  until  1620. 

The  Dutch  had  in  the  meantime,  established  themselves  on 

*  Acadie  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  a  corruption  of  Arcadie,  or  Ar 
cadia;  the  origin  of  Canada,  is  unknown,  though  there  is  reason  to  suppose,  that 
it  was  the  name  of  an  Indian  town  or  country  near  Quebec. 


164  DUTCH    SETTLEMENTS    ON    TEE    HUDSON.  [1615, 

the  large  stream,  entering  the  Atlantic,  under  the  40th  degree  of 
latitude,  called  by  them  the  North  river,  and  by  the  English  the 
Hudson,  in  honor  of  its  supposed  discoverer  Henry  Hudson. 
Their  first  settlements  were  made  by  the  West  India  Company  of 
Amsterdam,  at  the  mouth  of  this  stream,  where  Fort  Amsterdam 
was  erected  in  1615,  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  battery  in 
the  city  of  New  York ;  the  government  of  Holland  however,  soon 
after  took  possession  of  the  country,  to  which  the  name  of  New 
Netherlands  was  given,  and  the  settlements  rapidly  extended  up 
the  river,  where  Fort  Orange  was  founded  on  the  site  of  the  pre 
sent  city  of  Albany. 

The  earliest  permanent  settlement  of  English  north  of  Virginia, 
was  made  in  1620,  by  a  small  number  of  persons  called  Puritans, 
whose  ideas  of  religious  conduct  and  discipline,  were  so  peculiar 
and  strict,  that  they  were  unable  either  to  tolerate  the  state  of 
things,  or  to  obtain  toleration  for  themselves  in  their  own  country.* 
They,  in  consequence,  emigrated  to  Holland;  but  being  still  dis 
satisfied,  they  determined  to  remove  to  America,  and  there  to 
seek  some  spot,  in  which  they  might  establish  their  own  system 
as  paramount,  and  pursue  it  without  the  fear  of  the  legal  enact 
ments,  or  the  private  antipathy,  or  the  ridicule  of  the  unrighteous 
in  the  land  of  their  birth.  It  was  their  intention,  on  leaving 

*The  acute  and  occasionally  caustic  Scotchman,  Dr.  William  Douglass,  in  his 
historical  summary  of  the  English  colonies  in  America,  published  at  Boston  in 
1749,  thus  characterises  the  first  settlers  in  New  England : 

"  These  Puritans  were  pious,  honest,  well  meaning  people ;  but  too  contracted, 
rigid,  and  singular  in  their  discipline  and  practice  of  devotion.  They  would  not 
allow  of  the  English  St.  George's  red  cross,  in  the  military  ensigns,  colors  and 
standards.  In  common  affairs  of  life,  they  affected  to  use  scripture  terms,  and 
these  not  always  proper :  our  translation  is  not  goo'd.  Ancient  terms  in  common 
life,  used  by  the  polite  Greeks  and  Romans,  they  called  profane,  and  did  not  use 
them :  for  instance,  instead  of  December  25th,  they  wrote  the  25th  day  of  the 
tenth  month ;  instead  of  Monday,  they  said  the  second  day  of  the  week.  Some 
of  them  made  a  conscience  of  a  pun  or  a  rebus ;  thus  some  good  old  women 
would  not  brew  on  Saturdays,  because  the  ale  or  beer  would  in  course  work  upon 
the  Lord's  day  following. 

"  The  generality  of  the  first  settlers,  soon  became  more  moderate  and  social ; 
while  others  became  more  obstinately  and  intractably  enthusiastic.  These  last 
removed,  and  gave  birth  to  the  volunteer  settlements  of  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  in  the  dominions  of  New  England." 

These  were  stubborn  materials,  but  the  better  adapted  to  the  end  in  view.  Had 
the  French  settlers  in  East  Florida  possessed  some  of  the  unamiable  peculiarities 
of  the  Puritans,  their  enterprise  would  not  have  failed  so  completely,  under  the 
influence  of  the  first  opposing  circumstances. 


1620.]  PURITAN    SETTLEMENT    IN    NEW    ENGLAND.  165 

Europe,  to  settle  on  the  Hudson  river;  but  the  master  of  their 
vessel — treacherously,  as  it  is  said — conducted  them  to  Massachu 
setts  Bay,  on  the  rocky  barren  shores  of  which,  they  landed  in 
November,  1620.  There  they  fixed  their  habitation;  and  having 
been  joined  by  some  of  their  brethren  from  Europe,  they  founded 
a  colony,  to  which'  the  name  of  Plymouth  was  given,  in  honor  of 
the  port  in  England,  whence  they  took  their  departure. 

The  settlers  at  Plymouth  carried  with  them  no  patent  or  au 
thority  to  possess  territory  in  America.  Soon  after  their  depar 
ture  however,  the  Plymouth  Company  received  from  the  crown 
a  new  charter,  conceding  to  it  the  whole  division  of  the  continent 
between  the  40th  and  the  48th  parallels  of  latitude,  from  sea  to 
sea,  under  the  name  of  New  England,  with  all  the  authority  and 
privileges  enjoyed  by  the  Virginia  Company;  arid  from  this  body, 
the  settlers  succeeded  in  procuring  a  grant  of  lands  surrounding 
their  establishment  of  Plymouth.  Other  grants  of  the  same  na 
ture  were  made  by  the  New  England  Company,  to  individuals  or 
to  associations;  and  in  1621,  king  James  in  like  manner  be 
stowed  on  Sir  William  Alexander,  afterwards  Earl  of  Stirling, 
the  whole  territory,  east  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  rnouth  of  the 
river  St.  Croix  on  the  Atlantic,  along  that  stream  to  its  north 
ernmost  source,  and  thence  due  north  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  This 
last  province,  which  was  to  be  called  Nova  Scotia  or  New  Scot 
land,  was  of  course  abstracted  from  New  England;  and  as  it  more 
over  embraced  all  the  French  settlements  in  Acadie,  and  a  portion 
of  Canada,  the  concession  was  very  offensive  to  the  French,  who 
prepared  to  resist  the  contemplated  occupation  by  the  English. 
James  I.  was  then  engaged  in  a  negotiation  for  the  marriage  of 
his  eldest  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  with  the  daughter  of  Philip 
III.  of  Spain,  which  was  however  broken  off;  and  in  1625,  the 
prince,  then  king  Charles  I.  was  united  to  the  daughter  of  the 
late  king  Henry  IV.  of  France,  and  sister  of  the  reigning  sove 
reign  of  that  kingdom,  Louis  XIII.,  on  which  occasion,  it  was 
agreed  that  Acadie  should  belong  entirely  to  France.  Had  the 
"Spanish  match"  been  effected,  Virginia  would  probably  have 
been  in  like  manner  surrendered  to  Spain,  or  at  least  abandoned 
by'England;  as  the  Catholic  monarch  would  not  have  failed  to 
require  this  sacrifice,  which  James  would  have  considered  very 
trifling,  in  order  to  secure  the  consummation  of  his  favorite  project. 


166  THE    COMPANY    OF    NEW    FRANCE.  [1628. 

The  first  French  colonists  in  Canada  and  Acadie,  as  in  Florida, 
were  Protestants.  In  1628  however,  Cardinal  Richelieu,  then  at 
the  summit  of  power  in  France,  granted  all  the  possessions  of  his 
nation  in  the  New  World,  to  an  association  of  a  hundred  indi 
viduals,  entitled  the  Company  of  New  France,  on  conditions,  of 
which  one  was,  that  no  foreigner  or  heretic  should  be  allowed  to 
remain  in  any  of  those  countries;  and  Roman  Catholic  missiona 
ries  were  immediately  sent  thither  in  great  numbers  to  convert 
the  natives,  and  to  enforce  the  observance  of  their  faith  among  the 
king's  subjects.  Agreeably  to  this  charter,  Florida,  as  well  as 
the  St.  Lawrence  regions,  were  embraced  in  New  France,  noth 
ing  being  said  with  respect  to  the  intervening  territories,  occupied 
by  other  nations;  and  as  the  limits  of  Acadie  were  not  defined 
precisely  in  the  original  grant  of  the  country  to  Demonts,  and 
had  never  been  settled  by  treaty  between  the  two  nations  claim 
ing  possession  in  that  part  of  America,  they  might  have  been  con 
strued  to  embrace  not  only  Nova  Scotia,  but  also  the  whole  of 
New  England.* 

Great  anxiety  wis  occasioned  among  the  colonists  of  New 
England,  by  this  charter  of  New  France;  but  king  Charles  I. 
confirmed  the  grant  of  his  father  to  Alexander,  and  made  others 
in  the  territory  next  adjoining  Nova  Scotia  on  the  west,  to  which 
the  name  of  Maine  was  given,  either  in  contra-distinction  to  the 
islands  in  its  vicinity,  or  in  compliment  to  the  queen,  to  whom  the 

*L1Escarbot  in  his  "Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France,"  published  in  1617,  says: 
"  Our  New  France  has  for  its  limits  on  the  west,  the  territories  as  far  as  the  Pa 
cific  ocean,  on* this  side  of  the  tropic  of  Cancer;  on  the  south,  the  islands  of  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  in  the  direction  of  Cuba  and  Hispaniola ;  on  the  east,  the  north 
sea  which  bathes  New  France,  and  on  the  north,  the  unknown  lands  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Frozen  ocean,  as  far  as  the  north  pole."  The  description  is  certainly 
any  thing  but  precise  ;  yet  it  seems  to  include  the  whole  of  America  north  of  the 
tropic  of  Cancer. 

Champlain  in  his  "  Voyages  et  decouvertes  en  la  Nouvelle  France,"  in  1632, 
declares  that  "by  the  common  consent  of  all  Europe,  New  France  extends  at 
least  to  the  35th  or  36th  degree  of  latitude,  as  shewn  by  the  maps  of  the  world, 
published  in  Spain,  Italy,  Holland,  Flanders,  Germany,  and  even  in  England." 
These  are  of  course  mere  extravagancies,  proceeding  from  exuberance  of  patri 
otism,  or  national  vanity  on  the  parts  of  the  writers ;  yet  we  see  them  at  the  pre 
sent  day  gravely  cited  as  proof  of  rights.  See  the  "  Exploration  de  TOregon,"  by 
M.  Duflot  de  Mofras,  vol.  2,  page  253,  in  which  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  to 
Oregon,  as  being  a  part  of  Canada,  is  pronounced  to  be  established  by  such 
evidence. 


1629.]     SETTLEMENT  OF  MARYLAND  AND  MASSACHUSETTS.       167 

revenues  of  the  province  of  Maine  in  France,  were  secured  on  her 
marriage.  In  1627,  war  unexpectedly  broke  out  between  Eng 
land  and  France,  in  the  course  of  which,  all  the  possessions  of 
the  latter  nation  in  America  were  conquered  by  the  English. 
This  re-assured  the  people  of  New  England,  and  several  other 
colonies  were  immediately  founded  in  those  regions,  among 
which  were  Massachusetts  Bay,  adjoining  the  Plymouth  colony  on 
the  north,  where  the  town  of  Boston  was  commenced  in  1629, 
and  New  Hampshire  still  farther  in  the  same  direction.  Peace 
was  however  restored  between  the  two  contending  nations  in 
1632,  by  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain,  through  which  the  French 
regained  all  their  former  possessions  in  Canada  and  Acadie:  the 
apprehensions  of  the  New  England  people  in  consequence  re 
turned  and  the  company  being  moreover  alarmed  by  the  conduct 
of  the  king,  surrendered  its  charter  to  the  crown  in  1635;  where 
upon  the  direction  of  all  the  English  colonies  in  America  was 
committed  to  a  board,  sitting  at"  London,  entitled  "the  Lord's 
Commissioners  of  the  Plantations." 

The  Virginia  Company  had  been  dissolved  in  1625,  when  the 
colony  became  a  royal  province.  Seven  years  afterwards  the 
portion  north  of  the  Potomac  river  was  erected  into  a  separate 
province  called  Maryland,  the  proprietorship  and  government  of 
which,  were  granted  under  certain  conditions  and  restrictions  to 
Lord  Baltimore,  a  Roman  Catholic  nobleman,  and  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever.  These  countries  were  soon  in  a  prosperous 
situation,  notwithstanding  the  enmity  of  the  savages  towards  the 
settlers ;  and  their  population  increased  rapidly,  in  consequence 
of  the  advantages  afforded  by  the  soil  and  climate,  especially  for 
the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  which  then  bore  a  high  price  in 
Europe. 

The  apprehensions  of  danger  entertained  in  New  England, 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  French,  soon  vanished ;  and  several  new 
colonies  were  formed,  of  which  Connecticut,  New  Haven  and 
Rhode  Island,  were  off-shoots  from  the  original  puritan  estab 
lishments  in  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts;  while  Maine,  and 
others  farther  east  were  settled  principally  by  persons  coming 
directly  from  England,  whose  ideas  on  political  and  religious 
matters  were  more  nearly  consonant  with  the  system  of  Church 
and  State  in  that  country.  The  Dutch  settlements  were  also 


168      LEAGUE  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES.    [1643. 

increasing,  and  extended  from  the  Hudson  eastward  to  the  Con 
necticut,  and  westward  to  and  beyond  the  Delaware  or  South 
river  as  it  was  called  by  the  people  of  that  nation ;  and  a  small 
colony  of  Swedes,  had  been  planted  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
latter  stream,  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  New- Castle, 
which  was  however  soon  brought  under  subjection  to  the  Dutch. 

The  Dutch  in  the  New  Netherlands  were  considered  as  intru 
ders  by  the  English,  who  viewed  with  extreme  discontent,  this 
occupation  by  another  and  a  rival  people,  of  the  vast  and  fertile 
tract,  separating  New  England  from  Maryland  and  Virginia;  and 
many  petitions  were  addressed  to  the  government  at  London,  for 
the  removal  of  the  obnoxious  interlopers,  by  force  or  by  agree 
ment  with  the  United  Provinces.  No  attention,  however,  was 
paid  to  these  representations,  by  king  Charles  I.  who  was  too 
much  engaged  in  the  struggle  for  power  with  his  parliament,  to 
attend  to  the  concerns  of  a  few  discontented  puritans  in  a  remote 
land;  and  the  people  of  New  England,  being  moreover  at  the 
same  time  exposed  to  danger  from  the  savages,  and  foreseeing 
the  evil  consequences  which  might  result  from  the  revolution, 
then  in  progress  in  the  parent  State,  formed  a  league  in  1643, 
by  which  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  (then  including  New 
Hampshire)  Plymouth,  New  Haven  and  Connecticut,  bound 
themselves  to  act  in  concert  for  their  mutual  interests  and  safety. 

The  revolution  in  England  proved  highly  advantageous  in  all 
respects  to  the  American  colonies  of  that  nation.  Those  colonies 
had  been  placed  as  soon  as  possible  in  a  situation  to  govern  them 
selves  almost  entirely ;  being  each  provided  with  its  executive,  le 
gislative  and  judicial  departments,  resembling  those  of  the  country 
from  which  they  all  drew  their  origin.  The  New  England  colonies 
were  in  this  respect  nearly  independent  of  the  powers  in  Eng 
land;  and  were,  and  continued  to  be  in  reality,  so  many  repub 
lics,  each  managing  its  own  affairs  with  little  interference  on 
the  part  of  any  extraneous  authority.  The  systems  adopted  in 
Virginia  and  Maryland  were  more  nearly  conformable  with  that 
established  in  the  mother  country,  to  which  they  were  also  more 
directly  subordinate:  and  the  allegiance  to  the  sovereign,  was 
maintained  in  those  provinces  after  it  had  been  thrown  off  in  every 
other  portion  of  the  dominions.  Accordingly,  during  the  revolu 
tion  in  England,  the  exiled  or  .discontented  royalists,  emigrated 


1660.]      FRENCH    AND    ENGLISH    IN    THE    WEST    INDIES.  169 

in  great  numbers  to  Virginia  and  Maryland;  while  the  professors 
of  republican  principles  in  Church  and  State,  betook  themselves 
to  New  England,  in  which  they  found  a  home  among  persons 
of  congenial  views  and  feelings. 

New  England  was  in  consequence  specially  protected  and  fa 
vored  by  Cromwell,  who  yielding  to  its  representations,  sent 
out  a  large  squadron  in  1654,  for  the  conquest  of  the  New  Neth 
erlands.  The  conclusion  of  peace  with  the  Dutch,  prevented  the 
execution  of  that  design ;  but  the  armament,  reinforced  by  troops 
from  Massachusetts,  was  directed  against  the  French  settlements 
in  Acadie,  which  were  all  subjugated,  though  the  two  nations 
w^re  not  then  at  war  with  each  other,  and  were  retained  for  more 
than  twelve  years  by  the  conquering  party. 

The  English,  the  French,  and  the  Dutch,  had  in  the  meantime 
likewise  established  themselves,  on  several  of  the  West  India 
islands,  and  on  the  adjacent  coasts  of  South  America.  Some  of 
the  settlements  had  been  commenced  about  the  year  1625,  by 
parties  of  individuals  of  those  nations,  who  landed,  without  any 
authorization,  on  the  smaller  islands,  and  there  remained,  unpro 
tected  by  any  government,  except  such  as  they  constituted  for 
themselves,  and  exposed  to  many  difficulties,  from  disputes  with 
each  other,  as  well  as  from  the  attacks  of  the  Spaniards.  The 
other  settlements  were  founded  by  pirates  of  the  same  nations 
who  under  the  denominations  of  Bucaniers,  Freebooters,  Flibus- 
tiers  or  Zee-roovers,  maintained  unceasing  warfare  against  the 
Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies,  pillaging  their  ships,  and  the 
towns  on  their  coasts,  on  both  seas,  during  the  w^hole  of  that 
century.  When  the  establishments  formed  in  either  way,  had 
become  sufficiently  important  to  attract  attention,  officers  were 
sent  from  London,  or  Paris,  or  Amsterdam,  who  took  possession 
of  them  in  the  name  of  their  respective  governments. 

France  and  Spain  were  at  war  with  each  other  from  1635  to 
1659,  during  which  period,  the  possessions  of  the  former  power 
in  the  West  Indies,  were  constantly  increasing,  by  settlement  as 
well  as  by  conquest.  The  western  half  of  Hispaniola,  was  oc 
cupied  by  the  flibustiers  who  held  it  until  1648;  it  was  then  for 
mally  annexed  to  the  French  dominions,  the  name  of  the  Spanish 
capital  of  the  island,  St.  Domingo,  being  assumed  for  this  por 
tion,  in  token  of  the  intention  to  bring  the  remainder  under  the 
22 


170        THE  ENGLISH   CONQUER  THE  NEW  NETHERLANDS.     [1665. 

authority  of  France.  In  1655,  a  large  fleet  was  sent  by  Cromwell, 
under  Penn  and  Venables  for  the  conquest  of  the  same  island^ 
the  English  were  repulsed  in  their  attack  on  its  capital  city,  but 
they  succeeded  in  subjugating  the  whole  of  Jamaica,  which  has 
ever  since  remained  in  their  possession. 

Peace  was  made  between  France  and  Spain,  by  the  treaty  of 
the  Pyrennees  in  1659,  agreeably  to  which,  the  young  king  of 
France,  Louis  XIV.,  married  the  daughter  of  Philip  IV.  of 
Spain,  and  the  two  powers  were  more  closely  bound  together, 
by  the  alliance  of  Paris  in  1662.  No  arrangements  however  were 
made  between  them,  with  respect  to  the  New  World,  in  which 
each  tacitly  retained  what  it  held,  and  pursued  towards  the  other 
the  same  course  as  before.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  this 
interval,  took  place  the  earliest  direct  acknowledgment  by  the 
Spanish  government,  of  the  right  of  any  other  European  nation, 
except  Portugal,  to  hold  dominion  in  America;  it  being  agreed 
in  the  treaty  of  Munster  in  1648,  between  Spain  and  the  United 
Provinces  of  the  Netherlands,  that  each  party  should  retain  the 
places  possessed  by  it  in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  and  in 
Brazil,  and  all  other  coasts  and  territories  of  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America — provided  that  the  subjects  of  neither  should  visit 
the^spots  held  by  the  other,  in  those  countries.  It  may  also 
be  mentioned  as  a  curious  fact,  thai  the  concession  made  by 
Pope  Alexander  VI.  to  Spain  by  the  Bull  of  partition  in  1493, 
was  recalled  in  part  by  another  Pope,  Alexander  VII.,  who  in 
1658,  issued  a  brief,  acknowledging  the  king  of  France  as  the 
rightful  sovereign  of  all  the  countries  conquered  and  occupied 
by  his  subjects,  in  the  West  Indies,  and  confirming  the  appoint 
ments  of  ecclesiastics  in  those  dominions. 

In  1660,  monarchy  was  restored  in  England,  and  five  years 
afterwards,  war  broke  out  between  that  nation  and  the  United 
Provinces  ;  before  the  declaration  of  which  however,  Charles  II. 
carried  into  execution  the  design  of  Cromwell,  by  suddenly  at 
tacking  and  conquering  all  the  possessions  of  the  Dutch  in  North 
America.  Those  countries  were  then  bestowed  by  the  king  upon 
his  brother  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany  (afterwards  James  II.,) 
who  divided  them  into  two  provinces — New  Jersey  containing  the 
southern  portion  of  the  territory  between  the  Hudson  and  the 
Delaware  rivers — and  New  York  comprehending  the  remainder 


1663.]  CHARTERS    OF    CAROLANA    AND    CAROLINA.  171 

of  the  New  Netherlands ;  the  name  of  New  Amsterdam  being  at 
the  same  time  changed  to  New  York,  and  that  of  Fort  Orange 
to  Albany.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  in  1665,  these  coun 
tries  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  English  by  the  treaty  of  Breda, 
by  which  it  was  agreed,  that  each  nation  should  retain  its  con 
quests.  In  1673  they  were  again  brought  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Dutch;  but  they  reverted  to  the  English  in  the  following 
year,  agreeably  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Westminster,  and 
remained  in  their  possession  until  the  American  revolution. 

By  the  occupation  of  the  New  Netherlands,  the  English  were 
brought  into  direct  collision  with  the  French  of  Canada,  and  an 
other  source  of  difficulties  between  them  was  about  the  same 
time  opened.  The  treaty  of  Breda  between  England  and  France 
in  1665  declared  that  "the  country  called  Acadie,  situated  in 
North  America,  whereof  the  king  of  France  formerly  enjoyed 
the  possession,"  should  be  restored  to  that  sovereign.  This  act 
was  of  course  most  dissatisfactory  to  the  people  of  New  Eng 
land;  and  as  the  treaty  contained  no  description  of  the  limits 
of  the  country  ceded,  discussions  were  commenced  as  to  the 
relative  extent  of  Acadie  and  Nova  Scotia,  which  continued 
occasionally  to  disturb  the  peace  between  the  two  nations,  until 
they  were  definitively  set  at  rest  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763, 
assigning  all  those  countries  to  Great  Britain. 

Whilst  the  English  thus  acquired  the  possession  of  New  York, 
they  were  extending  their  dominion  southward,  towards  the 
Spanish  settlements  in  Florida. 

King  Charles  I.  had,  in  1630,  granted  to  Sir  Robert  Heath 
and  others,  the  whole  territory  south  of  the  36th  parallel  of  lati 
tude,  the  southern  limit  of  Virginia,  in  order  to  form  a  colony, 
which  was  to  be  called  Carolana,  in  honor  of  the  sovereign. 
This  grant  having  been  rendered  void,  from  non-fulfilment  of 
the  conditions,  Charles  II.  in  1663,  issued  a  new  patent,  in  favor 
of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon  and  seven  others,  constituting  them  and 
their  successors  for  ever,  proprietors  of  all  the  countries  in  Ameri 
ca,  between  the  36th  degree  of  latitude  and  the  31st,  which  were 
to  compose  the  province  of  Carolina,  and  to  be  enjoyed  and  gov 
erned  by  those  proprietors  in  eveiy  way  not  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  England. 

Previous  to  this  concession,  a  few  settlements  had  been  made 


172  FIRST    SETTLEMENTS    IN    CAROLINA.  [1665. 

by  people  from  Virginia,  as  far  south  as  the  borders  of  Albemarle 
sound,  and  the  country  had  been  explored  to  Cape  Fear  river, 
near  which  some  people  from  New.  England  had  recently  estab 
lished  themselves.  In  1663,  the  year  in  which  the  first  charter 
was  granted,  William  Hilton  was  sent  from  Barbadoes,  by  plan 
ters  of  that  island,  to  seek  a  place  for  a  colony  in  Florida;*  and 
he,  after  examining  Santa  Helena,  of  which  the  Spaniards  were 
found  in  occupation,  landed  on  the  banks  of  Cape  Fear  river, 
and  selected  a  spot  where  a  settlement  was  made  with  the  con 
sent  of  the  proprietors.  The  population  rapidly  increased,  and 
in  1667,  a  system  of  government  was  formed  for  this  country, 
and  a  legislature  was  convened,  which  passed  laws  and  appointed 
persons  to  execute  them. 

The  English  had  also  at  this  period,  partially  explored  the 
coasts  southward  to  the  San  Matheo;  and  had  entered  the  large 
river,  called  by  them  the  Savannah,  or  Saranna,  from  a  tribe  of  In 
dians  of  that  name,  residing  at  its  mouth,  and  probably  also  the 
Alatamaha,  falling  into  the  ocean  midway  between  the  two  other 
streams  above  mentioned.  In  virtue  of  these  discoveries — as  they 
were  pleased  to  regard  them — the  proprietors  of  Carolina  in  1665, 
obtained  from  the  king  another  charter,  extending  their  southern 
boundary  to  the  29th  parallel  of  latitude,  so  as  to  include  all  the 
Spanish  settlements  in  Florida,  and  the  whole  northern  coast  of 
the  Mexican  Gulf,  to  which  were  moreover  added  the  Bahama 
islands.  Soon  after  this  period  the  Spaniards  withdrew  their 
garrisons  from  Santa  Helena,  and  all  the  other  points  occupied 
by  them  north  of  the  San  Matheo;  and  in  1670,  an  English 
colony  was  planted  on  one  of  the  islands  of  the  Santa  Helena 
group,  which  was  called  Port  Royal,  under  the  supposition — no 
doubt  incorrect — of  its  being  the  same  so  named  by  Ribault, 
where  the  first  settlement  of  the  Huguenots  was  established  in 

G 

1562.  This  spot  however,  proved  unhealthy,  and  the  people 
were  in  the  following  year  transferred  to  another,  forty  miles 
farther  north-east,  on  the  banks  of  a  small  river  called  the  Ashley, 
in  honor  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  one  of  the  proprietors ;  from  which 

*  "A  relation  of  a  discovery  lately  made  on  the  coast  of  Florida  from  latitude 
31  to  33  degrees  45  minutes  north,  by  William  Hilton,  London,  1664."  This  cu 
rious  narrative  has  been  reprinted  by  Peter  Force,  Esq.,  of  Washington,  in  his 
collection  of  tracts  relative  to  America,  vol.  4. 


1672.]  EXTENT    OF    THE    ENGLISH    COLONIES. 

they  were  again  removed  to  the  bay  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Ashley  with  the  Cooper,  where  the  city  of  Charleston  was  begun 
in  1680.  The  constitution  devised  for  Carolina  by  John  Locke — 
the  wisest  and  best  man  of  his  day — with  its  palatine  for  life,  and 
its  hereditary  nobility  of  Landgraves  and  Caciques,  proved  wholly 
inapplicable  to  the  circumstances  of  the  country  and  its  people; 
and  now  remains  as  a  warning  against  all  attempts  to  govern 
nations  according  to  abstract  sistems. 

The  English  thus,  in  1672,  held  exclusive  possession  of  the 
whole  Atlantic  coast  of  America,  from  the  Savannah  to  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  along  which  their  settlements  extended,  though  at 
great  distances  apart,  containing  together  not  less  than  a  hundred 
thousand  persons.  The  only  towns  of  any  size  were  Boston  and 
New  York,  each  of  which  carried  on  a  considerable  trade  with 
England  and  the  West  Indies,  their  principal  exports  being  furs, 
grain  and  timber.  From  Virginia  and  Maryland,  tobacco  was 
almost  the  only  export,  especially  after  the  introduction  of  negro 
slaves,  which  wras  commenced  in  1620.  Slavery  of  Indians  as 
well  as  of  negroes,  was  permitted  in  the  more  northern  colonies ; 
but  the  proportion  of  slaves  in  those  countries,  was  never  so 
great  as  in  Maryland,  and  the  other  colonies  farther  south.  All 
these  settlements  were  made  on  or  near  tide  water,  none  of  them 
being  situated  above  the  heads  of  the  rivers,  falling  directly  into 
the  Atlantic;  nor  is  there  sufficient  evidence,  that  any  English 
man,  during  that  century,  crossed  the  Apalachian  or  Alleghany 
mountains,  which  divide  those  waters  from  the  Mississippi  and 
its  tributaries,  emptying  into  the  Mexican  Gulf.* 

*  Coxe,  in  his  Carolana,  published  in  1722,  asserts  that  a  Colonel  Wood,  who 
lived  at  the  falls  of  James  River,  now  Richmond,  in  Virginia,  spent  the  years 
from  1654  to  1664,  in  exploring  the  Mississippi  regions;  and  also  that  a  large 
party  of  men  from  Boston  had  crossed  the  continent  to  New  Mexico  in  1679 ;  but 
neither  of  these  assertions  is  sustained  by  any  proofs ;  and  the  book  is  filled  with 
similar  accounts  which  we  now  know  to  be  erroneous.  Jeffreys,  or  whoever 
wrote  the  "History  of  the  French  dominions  in  America,"  published  under  his 
name  in  1760,  adds,  (page  134)  that  the  Mississippi  was  also  explored  in  1670  by  a 
Captain  Bolt ;  but  he  probably  here  refers  to  Captain  Batt,  who  was  sent  in  that 
year  by  Sir  William  Berkeley,  the  governor  of  Virginia,  to  make  discoveries 
south-westward  from  the  falls  of  James  River,  and  who  penetrated  for  some  dis 
tance  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Alleghany  ridge,  until  he  reached  the  head 
waters  of  streams  flowing  "backwards,"  and  supposed  by  him  to  fall  into  the 
Mexican  Gulf.  See  Beverley's  History  of  Virginia,  published  in  1722,  page  62. 


174   STATE  OF  THE  SPANISH  POSSESSIONS  IN  FLORIDA.  [1672. 

The  Spaniards,  on  the  contrary,  had  made  very  few  additions 
to  their  settlements  in  North  America,  since  the  commencement  of 
the  century.  In  Florida  they  were  confined  to  St.  Augustine, 
and  one  or  two  small  places  in  its  vicinity,  containing  no  other 
inhabitants  than  the  garrisons,  and  persons  connected  with  the 
government,  probably  not  exceeding  altogether  a  thousand  per 
sons.  These  settlements  were  constantly  harrassed  by  Indians, 
especially  by  the  Jamafoes  or  Yamassees,  occupying  the  coasts 
and  islands  between  the  San  Matheo  or  St.  John's  river  and 
Santa  Helena,  the  Apalaches,  including  the  Seminoles  and 
lichees  of  the  lower  Apalachicola,  and  the  Cavitas  or  Coweetas, 
or  Muscoghees  of  the  Chatta-hoochee.  The  wars  with  these 
savages,  the  disputes  among  the  heirs  of  the  Adelantado  Me- 
nendez,  and  the  discussions  as  to  ecclesiastical  regulations,  form 
the  whole  subjects  of  the  history  of  Florida  during  this  period — 
a  history  not  more  important  or  more  interesting,  than  that  of 
any  English  or  Dutch  factory  on  the  Guinea  coast. 

On  the  Mexican  Gulf,  Havanna,  Campeachy  and  Vera  Cruz, 
were  the  only  places  of  note.  Havanna  was  rising  steadily  into 
importance,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  island  of  Cuba,  having 
been  transferred  thither  from  Santiago  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century.  Vera  Cruz,  occupying  its  present  position,  opposite 
the  island  and  castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  was  a  large  and  flour 
ishing  city,  and  the  depository  of  the  whole  commerce  between 
Mexico  and  Spain.  Panuco  had  sunk  into  an  inconsiderable 
village,  in  consequence  probably  of  some  change  in  the  depth  of 
water  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which  rendered  it  inaccessible 
to  vessels  drawing  more  than  six  feet.  North  of  Panuco,  there 
was  not  a  single  settlement  of  Europeans  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
gulf,  nor  in  any  part  of  the  vast  division  of  the  continent,  drained 
by  streams  entering  that  sea,  between  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Bravo 
or  Rio  Grande  on  the  west,  and  the  peninsula  of  Florida  on  the 
other  side.  Nor  does  it  appear  from  Spanish  histories  or  maps, 
or  works  of  geography,  or  in  any  other  way,  that  any  thing  had 
been  learned  respecting  the  countries  last  mentioned,  since  the 
expedition  of  Arellano  in  1560;  except  that  a  confused  idea 
was  entertained  in  Mexico,  of  the  existence  of  a  powerful  nation 
of  Indians,  called  Teguas  or  Texas,  in  the  region  north  of  the 


1672.]  THE    RIVER    OF    ESPIRITU    SANTO.  175 

Rio  Bravo,  between  New  Mexico  and  the  gulf.*  Conclusive  evi 
dence  is  indeed  afforded  by  the  works  above  alluded  to,  that  the 
connection  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  near  which  Santa  Fe  in  New 
Mexico  is  situated,  with  the  Rio  Grande  or  Bravo,  entering  the 
gulf  near  the  26th  parallel,  was  not  known  or  suspected  by  the 
Spaniards  until  1591 ;  the  former  river  being  before  that  year, 
represented  as  flowing  westward  to  the  Californian  Gulf.f  In  the 
maps  of  that  period,  a  large  river  is  always  made  to  enter  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  through  a  bay  called  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo, 
situated  four  or  five  degrees  west  of  the  actual  position  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi;  the  river  itself  being  named  in  different 
maps,  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo,  Rio  de  Cuchagua,  Rio  de  la  Culata, 
Rio  Grande,  and  Rio  de  la  Palisada.J  The  great  river  repre 
sented  under  these  various  names,  notwithstanding  its  position 
thus  far  west,  and  its  termination  in  a  bay,  was  most  probably  in 
tended  for  the  Mississippi,  which  was  certainly  known  to  the 
Spaniards  as  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo  during  the  whole  of  the  six 
teenth  century,  and  subsequently  as  the  Rio  de  la  Palisada,  from 
the  accumulation  of  logs  in  the  form  of  a  palisade  at  its  entrance. 
Indeed  the  existence  of  the  Mississippi  could  not  have  been  con 
cealed,  or  forgotten  for  any  length  of  time,  after  the  occupation 
of  Mexico;  as  the  greater  number  of  vessels  in  their  usual  course 
from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  Atlantic,  must  have  crossed  the  muddy  cur 
rent  created  by  the  discharge  of  its  waters  into  the  Gulf.  The  true 
place  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  is  usually  occupied  in  those 
maps,  by  a  small  stream,  called  Rio  de  Flores ;  between  the  Rio 
del  Espiritu  Santo  and  the  Rio  Bravo  appear  several  other  rivers, 

*  "The  venerable  mother  Maria  de  Jesus  Agreda,"  says  Barcia  in  his  Chrono 
logical  History  of  Florida,  "preached  in  the  province  of  the  Teguas  [in  1622,] 
but  whether  In  the  spirit,  or  in  reality,  she  herself  could  not  determine."  Whatever 
this  famous  extatic  nun  may  have  done  in  the  spirit,  it  seems  to  be  clearly  estab 
lished,  that  she  never  in  the  body,  left  the  walls  of  the  Convent  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  at  Agreda  in  Arragon,  from  the  time  of  her  first  entrance  in  1619,  to 
her  death  in  1665. 

f  In  some  of  these  maps,  the  Rio  del  Norte,  is  made  identical  with  the  Gila, 
entering  the  Californian  Gulf  at  its  northern  extremity ;  in  others  with  the 
Yaqui,  which  falls  into  that  sea  near  the  27th  degree  of  latitude.  Alcedo  in  his 
great  "  Dictionary,  Geographical  and  Historical  of  the  Indies,"  published  at  Ma 
drid  in  1786-9,  positively  states  that  the  Rio  del  Norte,  empties  into  the  Californian 
Gulf,  in  the  latitude  of  32  degrees;  and  the  error  moreover  stands  uncorrected, 
in  the  English  translation  of  that  work,  by  Thompson,  published  in  1813. 

t  See  at  page  219  the  copy  of  a  Spanish  map  of  the  gulf,  published  in  1670. 


176     AMERICAN  TREATY  BETWEEN   SPAIN  AND  ENGLAND.   [1670. 

under  a  variety  of  appellations,  such  as  Rio  de  la  Magdalena,  Rio 
Escondido,  Rio  de  Montanas,  and  Rio  de  Gigantes. 

The  Spanish  government  nevertheless  still  claimed  the  exclu 
sive  dominion  of  the  West  India  islands,  and  of  the  whole  division 
of  America  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf;  and  still  endeavored  to 
enforce  its  barbarous  decrees  against  all  foreigners  who  should 
enter  those  territories;*  and  many  large  and  costly  armaments 
had  been  sent  by  that  power,  to  expel  the  English,  French  and 
Dutch  intruders  from  the  Caribean  Archipelago,  These  attempts 
however  proved  uniformly  unsuccessful ;  and  they  served  only  to 
exhaust  the  resources  of  Spain,  which  was  from  various  causes, 
rapidly  sinking  to  an  inferior  position  among  the  nations  of  the 
civilized  world. 

At  length  in  1670,  a  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  Catholic 
king  and  Charles  II.  of  England,  by  which  they  agreed  to  respect 
the  rights  and  dominions  of  each  other,  "in  the  West  Indies, 
or  in  any  part  of  America,"  and  to  maintain  peace  between  their 
subjects,  "inviolably,  as  well  by  land  as  by  sea,  and  fresh  water," 
provided,  that  the  subjects  and  vessels  of  neither  kingdom, 
should  have  access  to  the  ports  or  places  of  the  other,  unless 
forced  thither  by  unavoidable  circumstances.  This  treaty,  known 
in  English  history,  as  the  American  treaty,  resembled  in  its  terms, 
that  concluded  at  Munster  between  Spain  and  the  United  Nether 
lands  in  1648  as  already  mentioned;  and  was  the  first  admis 
sion  by  Spain  of  the  right  of  England  to  hold  dominion  in  the 
New  World,  or  to  navigate  the  seas  in  its  vicinity.  Its  provi 
sions  were  of  the  most  general  nature,  though  calculated  to  open 
the  way  for  others  more  specific,  without  which,  the  treaty  was 
in  fact  of  little  efficacy:  with  regard  to  territories  occupied  ex 
clusively  by  either  party,  and  having  distinct  natural  boundaries, 
such  as  islands,  the  right  of  possession  might  be  considered  as 
clearly  recognised;  but  in  all  other  cases,  ample  field  was  left  for 
dispute,  and  disputes  accordingly  arose  at  every  point,  where 
the  territories  held  by  the  two  nations  were  contiguous. 

The  American  treaty  nevertheless  gave  to  the  English    colo 
nies,  in   Carolina,  and  in  the  West  Indies,  an   assurance  which 

*  These  prohibitive  enactments  may  nearly  all  be  found  in  the  "  Recopilacion 
de  leyes  delndias,"or  code  of  laws  of  the  Spanish  dominions  in  the  New  World. 
Book  9,  titles  27,  30  and  44. 


1670.]       SLOW    PROGRESS    OF    THE    FRENCH    COLONIES.  177 

they  had  previously  wanted,  and  they  advanced  more  rapidly  in 
consequence.  The  Spaniards  indeed  lost  no  opportunity  to  an 
noy  their  rivals  in  Carolina— which  they  still  affected  to  regard  as 
a  part  of  Florida — by  direct  attacks  as  well  as  by  exciting  the  In 
dians  to  make  war  on  the  frontier  settlements  of  the  English ;  but 
the  latter  by  their  vigilance  and  energy,  defeated  these  attempts, 
and  returned  the  annoyances  with  interest  in  the  same  way. 

The  French  settlements  in  America  had  meanwhile  advanced 
but  little,  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  English;  they  were 
confined  to  the  shores  of  the  peninsula  of  Acadie  or  Nova  Scotia, 
and  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  below  its  rapids,  and  their 
population,  exclusive  of  the  aborigines,  did  not  exceed  eight 
thousand  persons.  Their  government  was  conducted  on  the 
most  despotic  plan :  the  whole  of  New  France,  was  under  the 
immediate  control  of  a  Governor  and  Captain  General,  appointed 
by  the  crown,  with  powers  scarcely  inferior  to  those  of  the  Span 
ish  viceroys,  while  the  military  and  ecclesiastical  establishments 
\vere  proportionally  large  and  expensive.  The  trade  and  settlement 
of  all  of  these  countries  were  as  already  said,  conceded  in  1624,  to 
the  company  of  New  France,  which  retained  its  privileges,  until 
1663;  they  were  then  transferred  to  the  West  India  Company, 
which  held  them,  together  with  the  exclusive  rights  of  commerce 
and  navigation  in  all  parts  of  America  and  of  Africa  bordering 
on  the  Atlantic,  until  1674,  when  the  American  provinces  were 
all  brought  under  the  direct  dominion  of  the  crown. 

The  principal  places  in  New  France  were  Port  Royal,  now 
Annapolis,  on  the  Acadian  peninsula,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Bay 
of  Fundy;  and  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  Quebec  the  seat  of  the  gen 
eral  government,  Trois-rivieres,  on  the  expansion  of  the  river  called 
Lake  St.  Pierre,  and  Montreal  the  centre  of  religion  and  com 
merce,  from  which  the  missionaries  and  traders  took  their  depar 
ture  for  the  interior.  No  French  establishment  of  any  kind,  ex 
cept  some  missionary  and  trading  stations,  existed  before  1673, 
beyond  the  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence;  though  the  shores  of  all 
the  great  lakes  had  been  carefully  explored  through  the  exertions 
of  the  Jesuits,  as  clearly  proved  by  their  maps,  which  were  al 
most  as  exact  as  those  of  any  part  of  Europe  at  the  same  period. 

The  French  however  by  no  means  intended  to  limit  themselves 
to  these  inhospitable  regions;  in  which  their  establishments  were 
23 


178  THE    IROQUOIS    OR    FIVE    NATIONS.  [1670. 

maintained,  as  bases  for  farther  operations,  whereby  their  power 
might  be  extended  southward,  over  the  countries  then  claimed 
by  Great  Britain.  The  territory  south  of  Lakes  Ontario  and 
Erie,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio, 
the  Susquehanna  and  the  Hudson,  was  found  occupied  by  a 
powerful  confederacy  of  Indians,  celebrated  in  the  history  of 
Northern  America,  as  the  Five  Nations,  or  the  Iroquois,  as  they 
were  called  by  the  French,  whose  influence  prevailed  to  a  much 
greater  distance,  in  all  directions,  even  north  of  the  lakes,  where 
they  held  in  subjection,  the  Wyandots  or  Hurons  of  the  region, 
between  lakes  Erie  and  Huron.*  To  obtain  a  footing  in  this  wide 
and  fertile  territory,  now  composing  the  principal  part  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  was  the  constant  object  of  the  French,  from  the 
time  of  their  first  settlement  in  Canada ;  to  which  military  com 
manders,  missionaries  and  traders,  had.  all  directed  their  efforts, 
but  without  the  slightest  prospect  of  success.  The  Dutch  whilst 
they  held  possession  of  the  country  farther  south,  had  contented 
themselves  with  the  trade  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  confederacy, 
over  which  they  however  obtained  little  influence :  but  the  Eng 
lish  immediately  after  the  annexation  of  the  New  Netherlands  to 
their  dominions,  employed  every  means  in  their  power,  to  con 
ciliate  or  subdue  the  Five  Nations;  and  thus  arose  a  contest 
between  them  and  the  French,  which  continued  without  any  real 
intermission,  until  the  overthrow  of  the  authority  of  the  latter, 
on  the  American  continent. 

*The  Five  Nations  of  this  confederacy,  were  the  Seneka,  or  Tsonnonthouans. 
as  called  by  the  French,  occupying  the  country  from  the  south-east  end  of  Lake 
Erie,  to  the  Genesee  river,  on  which  the  city  of  Rochester  now  stands ;  the 
Onondaga  or  Onontague,  extending  along  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  from 
the  Genesee  to  the  Seneka  river  which  enters  the  lake  at  Oswego  ;  the  Oneida, 
or  Onneyuths  of  the  French,  between  the  Onondaga  and  the  mountainous  region 
west  of  Lake  Champlain,  which  was  then  inhabited  by  the  wild  Adirondacks,  or 
Tree-eaters ;  the  Mohawks,  or  Agniers  of  the  French,  on  the  River  Mohawk, 
one  of  the  branches  of  the  Hudson,  and  the  Lake  of  the  Sacrament,  now  Lake 
George;  and  the  Cayuga  or  Goyogouen  of  the  French,  dwelling  near  the  Cayuga 
Lake,  south  of  the  Onondaga.  In  1712,  the  Tuscarora  from  North  Carolina  es 
tablished  themselves  in  this  region,  between  the  Oneida  and  Ontario  lakes,  and 
were  admitted  into  the  confederacy,  which  thenceforth  became  the  Six  Nations. 

The  name  Iroquois  is  said  to  have  been  given  to  these  Indians,  by  the  French, 
from  the  frequent  use  of  an  expression  or  exclamation  resembling  Irok  in  sound, 
uttered  by  them  in  token  of  assent,  in  their  deliberative  assemblies.  The  Hurons, 
were  so  called  by  the  French,  from  their  manner  of  dressing  their  heads,  giving 
them  the  appearance  of  the  hure  or  head  of  the  wild  boar. 


1670.]    CHARTER  OF  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY.      179 

The  part  of  America  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence  countries, 
surrounding  the  great  interior  sea,  called  Hudson's  Bay  from  its 
supposed  discovery,  by  the  English  navigator  Henry  Hudson 
in  1608,  was  considered  by  the  French  as  dependant  on  Canada. 
Charles  II.  King  of  England  however  in  1670,  granted  by  char 
ter  to  an  association  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  entitled,  "The 
company  of  adventurers  of  England  trading  into  Hudson's  Bay," 
the  entire  and  exclusive  possession  of  all  "the  seas,  straits  and 
bays,  rivers,  lakes,  creeks,  and  sounds,  in  whatsoever  latitude 
they  shall  be,  that  lie  within  the  entrance  of  the  straits,  com 
monly  called  Hudson's  Straits,  together  with  all  the  lands,  coun- 
ries,  and  territories,  upon  the  coasts  and  confines"  of  those 
waters,  not  then  actually  possessed  by  subjects  of  England  or 
of  any  other  Christian  prince  or  state.  This  concession  was  of 
course  very  annoying  to  the  French,  who  immediately  took  mea 
sures  to  anticipate  the  English  in  the  occupation  of  the  coasts 
of  the  bay,  and  another  source  of  discord  was  thus  opened  be 
tween  the  two  nations. 

This  charter  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  was  the  first  in 
stance  of  a  claim  or  grant  by  a  European  government,  of  an  un 
occupied  tract  of  territory  in  America,  in  which  the  limits  were 
defined  by  specific  reference  to  the  streams,  traversing  or  draining 
the  tract,  or — in  other  words — to  the  ridge  or  line  of  highland  en 
circling  it.  In  the  previous  cases,  the  French  had  merely  stated 
in  their  patents,  the  extent  of  coast  which  they  meant  to  occupy; 
while  the  English  boldly  asserted  their  title  to  the  whole  breadth 
of  the  continent,  between  certain  parallels  of  latitude:  and  as  in 
this  last  grant,  the  principal  object  expressed  in  the  charter,  was 
to  encourage  the  search  for  a  northern  passage  between  the  At 
lantic  and  the  Pacific,  it  is  strange  that  the  concession  like  those 
to  the  Virginia,  New  England  and  Carolina  Companies,  was  not 
made  to  extend  completely  across  the  continent. 

The  charters  or  patents  under  which  these  English  and  French 
colonies  in  A.merica  were  established,  nearly  resembled  the  com 
missions  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns  to  their  Adelantados.  They 
in  like  manner  supposed  the  existence  of  a  right  in  the  party 
granting  them,  to  the  possession  of  the  territories  designated,  and 
were  equivalent  to  public  declarations  of  its  intention  to  support 
and  defend  the  grantees  not  only  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  settle- 


180         RIGHTS  OF  NATIONS  TO  VACANT  COUNTRIES.      [1672. 

merits  which  they  might  make,  but  also  indirectly  in  the  exclu 
sive  right  of  making  settlements,  in  the  whole  extent  of  those 
territories.  History  shows  that  this  construction  was  always 
placed  by  the  French  and  English  governments,  on  their  respec 
tive  charters;  and  that  neither  of  those  powers  ever  yielded  any 
territory,  claimed  on  such  grounds,  except  on  compulsion,  or  in 
return  for  some  advantage  gained;  though  the  desire  of  main 
taining  peace  often  led  them,  in  their  treaties  with  each  other, 
to  leave  those  questions  unsettled  or  involved  in  vague  and  inde 
terminate  generalities. 

The  Spanish  sovereigns  originally  founded  their  claim  to  the 
whole  of  the  New  World  except  Brazil,  upon  the  concession 
made  by  the  Pope  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  in  1493,  and  the 
Treaty  of  Partition  with  Portugal ;  and  when  these  titles  ceased 
to  be  respected,  they  adduced  the  discoveries  and  settlements  of 
their  subjects,  in  support  of  their  pretensions.  The  English  and 
the  French  seem  to  have  always  proceeded  upon  the  principle, 
that  territories  not  already  occupied  by  some  European  nation, 
were  open  to  all,  and  should  belong  to  the  first  which  made  set 
tlements  in  them ;  no  claim  on  the  ground  of  discovery,  being 
alleged  in  any  charter  from  either  of  those  powers,  at  least  since 
the  days  of  Henry  VIlI.  and  Francis  I.  Queen  Elizabeth  indeed 
expressly  pronounced  all  titles  to  countries,  resting  on  this  latter 
basis,  to  be  as  vain  and  insignificant  as  those  emanating  from  the 
Papal  authority;  and  her  refusal  to  recognise  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Spaniards  "farther  than  in  the  parts  where  they  actually  set 
tled  and  continued  to  inhabit,"  became  thenceforward  the  rule 
of  English  policy  on  those  matters. 

The  right  of  a  civilized  nation  to  take  possession  of  a  country 
inhabited  only  by  barbarians,  incapable  of  developing  its  advan 
tages,  will  not  here  be  discussed.  With  regard  to  the  pretension 
of  one  civilized  nation,  to  appropriate  to  itself  exclusively,  a 
vast  portion  of  the  earth,  in  which  it  may  at  the  time  not  have  a 
single  citizen  or  subject,  circumstances  so  many  and  various,  are 
to  be  considered,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  lay  down  any 
principles,  or  even  rules  of  a  definite  nature.  If  discovery  be  the 
basis  of  the  pretension,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  exactly — what 
should  constitute  a  discovery,  so  complete  as  to  give  to  the  party 
making  it,  a  preference  over  all  others,  in  occupying  the  country; 


1672.]  TITLES   FQUNDED   ON   DISCOVERY  AND   SETTLEMENT.      181 

— what  degree  of  publicity  should  have  been  given  to  a  dis 
covery,  in  order  to  render  those  subsequently  made,  inopera 
tive — how  far  an  exploration  by  one  party,  may  supersede  the 
claims  of  another,  resting  merely  on  the  previous  ascertainment 
of  the  existence  of  the  territory — to  what  extent  of  territory,  the 
preference  in  occupation,  if  clearly  established  by  a  particular 
discovery  and  survey,  might  be  deemed  to  apply,  and  how  long 
it  might  subsist,  without  the  exercise  of  the  right — or  what  re 
spect  is  due  to  the  claims  of  nations,  possessing  dominions  con 
tiguous  to  the  vacant  territory.  Similar  questions  may  arise, 
after  the  actual  settlement  of  a  country,  with  regard  to  the  extent 
of  vacant  territory,  over  which  a  particular  establishment  should 
secure  to  the  founder,  the  rights  of  immediate  jurisdiction,  or  of 
preference  in  occupation  ;  and,  no  less  difficult  would  it  be,  to 
prescribe  rules  of  conduct,  applicable  to  all  the  cases  which  might 
thus  occur.  On  all  these  points,  disputes  have  arisen  between 
the  civilized  nations,  by  which  various  portions  of  the  New 
World  were  discovered,  or  claimed  and  settled :  in  their  discus 
sions,  however,  the  parties  have  seldom  agreed,  either  as  to  facts, 
or  principles  of  justice,  or  usages ;  and  the  questions  have  been,  in 
almost  every  instance,  determined,  by  force  or  by  compromise. 
It  may,  however,  be  easily  shown,  that  the  settlement  of  a 
vacant  country  would  be  attended  with  infinitely  greater  diffi 
culty  and  injury  to  the  cause  of  humanity  and  civilization,  with 
out  such  assurances  from  the  parent  state  to  its  people,  that  they 
should  be  protected,  in  the  exclusive  possession  of  territories, 
sufficiently  extensive  for  the  accommodation  of  themselves  and 
their  descendants,  during  a  reasonable  period  of  time.  It  would 
be  needless  to  enumerate  the  evils,  which  would  otherwise  ensue, 
from  the  establishment  of  several  colonies  of  different  nations, 
in  a  small  space;  or  to  show  that  the  apprehension  of  those  evils 
wrould  deter  respectable  persons,  from  attempting  to  settle,  where 
they  would  be  thus  exposed  to  violence  and  knavery,  without  the 
possibility  of  obtaining  redress  from  laws.  The  extent  of  coun 
try  which  might  be  embraced  in  such  a  charter,  without  subject 
ing  the  party  granting  it  to  the  charge  of  injustice  or  extrava 
gance,  would  depend  on  many  circumstances  not  easily  defined, 
but  especially  on  its  actual  population,  and  its  vicinity  or  its 
means  of  access,  to  the  territory  claimed. 


182 


NATIONAL    LAW    LITTLE    REGARDED. 


[1672. 


At  the  period  to  which  the  present  Chapter  relates,  a  general 
international  law  was  scarcely  known.  Grotius,  PufFendorf,  and 
Selden  then  lived,  and  their  great  works  which  formed  the  basis 
of  the  science,  were  published  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  yet,  the 
principles  they  laid  down  were  regarded  as  legal  abstractions  by 
which  governments  were  not  bound  to  regulate  their  conduct  1o 
each  other.  Very  little  is  said  by  these  eminent  writers  respect 
ing  the  rights  of  nations  to  vacant  territories,  and,  indeed  very 
little  has  been  since  produced  of  a  satisfactory  or  paramount 
character  on  this  subject.  Each  of  the  European  powers  which 
then  held  dominion  in  America,  regarded  as  its  own  all  that  .was 
bounded  by  limits  assigned  by  its  own  will.  These  limits  were 
extended  whenever  it  was  deemed  expedient,  and  of  course, 
without  reference  to  the  claims  of  other  powers,  no  matter  on 
what  basis  they  might  rest.  This  condition  of  territorial  claims 
and  rights,  in  which  might  made  right,  continued  to  exist  until 
a  much  later  period  of  our  history. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


1672    TO     1684. 


DISCOVERIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  JESUITS  AND  TRADERS  IN  THE 

INTERIOR  OF  NORTH  AMERICA EXPEDITIONS  OF  JoLIET  AND 

MARQUETTE,  AND  OF  LA  SALLE  AND  HENNEPIN  ON  THE  MIS 
SISSIPPI — COMPLETE  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  BY 
THE  FRENCH  FROM  ITS  FALLS  TO  ITS  MOUTH. 

THE  labors  and  success  of  the  French  missionaries  in  explor 
ing  the  interior  of  Canada,  have  been  already  noticed.  The 
civilization  of  the  natives,  formed  with  the  French,  as  with  the 
Spaniards,  an  important  object  of  policy  in  the  New  World:  but 
the  persons  employed  for  that  purpose  by  the  French,  also  exerted 
themselves  more  than  those  of  any  other  nation,  in  acquiring  ex 
act  knowledge  of  the  countries  which  they  visited ;  and  through 
their  efforts,  principally,  if  not  entirely,  the  earliest  discoveries  in 
the  vast  division  of  North  America,  traversed  by  the  upper  Mis 
sissippi,  were  effected. 

The  French  missions  in  Canada,  were  at  first  confided  to  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Franciscans,  or  Recollets,  the  two  orders  wrhose 
members  have  devoted  themselves  the  most  assiduously  to  such 
labors.  The  Jesuits,  generally  men  of  education  and  refinement, 
directed  their  efforts  to  enlighten  the  minds  of  the  savages,  and 
raise  them  to  the  level  of  reasoning  beings ;  to  which  end,  so  far 
as  it  might  be  attainable,  their  system  seems  to  have  been  better 
adapted  than  any  other  as  yet  put  in  practice.  The  basis  of 
this  system,  was  the  separation  of  the  Indians  from  intercourse 
with  all  civilized  men,  except  iheir  immediate  instructors:  and 
with  this  object,  endeavors  were  made  to  collect  them  in  com 
munities  around  the  missionary  stations,  wrhere  they  were  initiated 


184  THE  JESUITS  AND  THE  RECOLLETS.        ['l37J. 

into  the  doctrines  and  observances  of  the  Catholic  religion,  and 
the  arts  and  customs  of  social  life ;  particular  care  being  of  course 
directed  to  the  young,  who  were,  as  much  as  possible,  removed 
from  contact  with  other  Indians  and  with  the  French  traders.    The 
Recollets,  on  the  contrary,  were  plain,  untaught  persons,  usually 
taken  from  the  lower  ranks,  who  contented  themselves  with  the 
performance  of  the  most  ordinary  functions  of  the  priesthood,  and 
looked  to  no  results  beyond  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  indi 
viduals,  in  the  mode  regarded  by  them  as  effectual.     These  two 
orders,  as  might  be  supposed,  entertained  towards  each  other, 
feelings  somewhat  at  variance  with  that  brotherly  love,  which  is 
so  strongly  recommended  by  the  founder  of  the  Christian  religion  ; 
and  it  is  therefore  very  difficult  to  arrive/at  the  truth,  with  regard 
to  many  important  circumstances  in  the  history  of  French  America, 
on  which  the  evidence  is  only  to  be  found,  in  their  narratives  or 
reports.*    In  the  accounts  of  the  Recollets,  the  Jesuits  are  usually 
charged  with  falsehood,  dissimulation,  and  knavery  of  all  kinds, 
in  the  language  of  coarse  and  direct  invective;  while  better  taste 
and  more  profound  knowledge  of  the  world,  led  the  followers 
of  St.  Ignatius  to  content  themselves  with  passing  over  in  silence, 
or  faintly  noticing  the  labors  of  their  humble  rivals.    In  1633,  how 
ever,  the  Recollets  were  banished  from  New  France,  and  this  ex 
clusion  continued  until  1669,  when  the  Jesuits  having  become  the 
objects  of  jealousy  to  the  government  from  their  interference  in 
public  affairs,  and  their  opposition  to  the  establishment  of  military 
and  civil  authority  in  the  Indian  countries,  the  Franciscans  were 
invited  to  resume  their  missionary  labors. 

The  French  missionaries  were  every  where  accompanied  or 
followed  by  the  traders,  between  whom  and  the  Jesuits,  subsisted 

*  The  accounts  of  these  missionaries  were,  at  first,  published  irregularly  in  the 
form  of  letters,  or  of  histories  or  descriptions  of  particular  parts  of  New  France ; 
among  the  earliest  and  most  curious  of  which,  is  the  "  Grand  voyage  du  pays 
des  Hurons,"  by  the  Recollet  Gabriel  Sagard,  printed  at  Paris  in  1632.  In  that 
year  the  Jesuits  began  to  issue  their  "  Relations  "  in  the  form  of  small  volumes, 
which  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  France,  or  Holland,  or  Italy,  and  are  now 
in  great  request  among  collectors  of  rare  works  on  American  history.  In  1717, 
another  series  of  a  similar  character,  called  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  was  com 
menced  at  Paris,  containing  select  communications  from  Jesuits,  in  all  parts  of 
the  world ;  it  was  continued  at  intervals  until  1776,  when  a  large  number  of  vol 
umes  had  been  published,  forming  together,  one  of  the  most  agreeable  and  in 
structive  works  to  be  found  in  any  language. 


1G10.]  JESUIT    MISSIONS    ON    LAKE    MICHIGAN.  185 

a  strong  mutual  antipathy,  in  consequence  of  the  determined  re 
sistance  of  the  latter,  to  the  demoralising  practices  of  the  traders, 
especially  as  regards  the  introduction  of  spirituous  liquors  among 
the  Indians.  The  Recollets  had  fewer  scruples  on  these  points, 
and  were  accordingly  viewed  by  the  traders  in  general,  with  more 
friendly  eyes,  if  not  as  natural  co-operators. 

The  French  government  availed  itself  of  the  services  of  all 
these  classes  for  the  discovery  of  the  country;  the  Franciscans 
and  the  traders  usually  acting  as  pioneers,  after  whom  went  the 
Jesuits,  applying  their  science  to  the  minute  examination  of  the 
regions  thus  laid  open  by  the  others.  The  greater  number  of  these 
traders,  were  men  of  coarse  manners  and  dissolute  character,  who 
were  held  in  horror  by  the  Jesuits :  but  there  were  also  among 
them  persons  of  a  higher  order,  such  as  Perrot,  Joliet  and  La  Salle, 
who  were  often  entrusted  by  the  governors  of  New  France,  with 
commissions  to  make  treaties  with  the  natives,  and  to  receive 
their  promises  of  allegiance ;  after  which,  military  officers  were,  if 
expedient,  sent  to  establish  forts  for  the  protection  of  the  missiona 
ries,  traders  or  settlers.  Thus  in  1670,  Perrot  convoked  a  numer 
ous  assembly  of  the  nations  surrounding  Lake  Michigan,  at  Chi 
cago  near  the  southern  extremity  of  that  lake,  where  he  made 
known  to  them  the  power  and  objects  of  his  sovereign;  and  in 
the  following  year,  M.  de  St.  Lusson,  who  had  been  specially 
sent  for  the  purpose,  solemnly  took  possession  of  all  the  regions 
of  the  upper  lakes  for  France  in  the  presence  of  a  multitude  of 
Indians,  at  Mackinac. 

Among  the  Jesuits  who  devoted  themselves  most  ardently  to 
these  labors,  were  Fathers  Allouez,  Dablon,  and  Marquette;  and 
to  their  exertions  the  world  is  indebted  for  the  first  surveys  and 
maps  approaching  to  exactness,  of  the  Lakes  Superior  and  Michi 
gan,  as  well  as  for  the  earliest  observations  of  the  currents,  and 
the  variation  in  the  altitude  of  the  surface  of  those  waters.  For 
the  conversion  of  the  natives,  they  established,  in  1670  and  the 
two  succeeding  years,  several  missionary  stations,  of  which  the 
principal  were  on  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Supe 
rior,  at  Michilimackinac  or  Mackinac  on  the  north  side  of  the 
passage  connecting  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan,  and  on  the  Baie 
des  Puants,  now  Green  Bay,  which  joins  the  last  named  lake  on 
the  north-west.  In  such  remote  places,  did  these  Jesuits  volun- 


186  FIRST    NOTICES    OF    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  [16"/2. 

tarily  consign  themselves  for  years,  to  the  thankless  and  futile 
task  of  converting  and  civilizing  the  Wyandots,  Ottawas,  Poto- 
watamies,  and  other  tribes  of  irreclaimable  barbarians,  who  then 
occupied  the  regions  surrounding  the  lakes;  their  only  pleasures 
being  derived  from  the  success  of  their  exertions,  and  from  the 
study  of  the  new  countries,  and  new  objects  of  all  kinds,  by 
which  they  were  surrounded. 

These  extensive  journies  of  the  French  missionaries  and  tra 
ders,  were  performed  almost  entirely  by  water,  on  the  lakes  and 
streams  which  cross  the  northern  parts  of  America  in  all  direc 
tions:  the  vehicles  employed  being  canoes  made  of  the  bark 
of  the  birch  tree,  without  which  those  regions  would  have  been 
uninhabitable  by  the  aborigines.  The  .canoes  are  constructed 
with  little  trouble,  and  are  so  light  as  to  be  easily  transported 
around  the  rapids  of  the  streams,  or  from  one  stream  to  another; 
while  the  latter  quality  renders  the  labor  of  propelling  them  com 
paratively  small;  and  journies  of  more  than  two  thousand  miles 
are  thus  made,  in  the  course  of  which  the  canoe  is  removed  from 
the  water  and  replaced  in  it,  almost  daily. 

From  the  missions  on  the  upper  lakes,  the  Jesuits  continued 
their  explorations  northward  to  Hudson's  Bay,  and  north-west 
to  the  lakes,  now  known  as  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods:  on  the  west  and  south,  they  had  reached  the  head 
waters  of  the  Wisconsin,  the  Illinois,  and  the  Ohio;  and  they  had 
received  accounts  from  the  Indians,  of  a  mighty  river,  called 
Mescha-sibi  or  Missi-sippi,  signifying  the  Great  Water,  in  the 
language  of  the  Outagamies  and  Chipewas  west,  of  Lake  Michi 
gan,  into  which  the  other  streams  were  all  said  to  empty.  Re 
specting  the  course  and  outlet  of  this  river,  much  interest  was  im 
mediately  excited  in  Canada,  where  hopes  were  entertained  that 
it  might  be  found  to  flow  directly  into  the  Pacific,  and  thus  to 
afford  the  means  of  communication  between  Europe  and  India; 
and  in  1669,  an  attempt  was  made  by  Messrs.  Dolier  and  Gali- 
nee,  two  priests  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  M.  de  la  Salle,  the  trader 
above  mentioned,  to  effect  its  discovery,  by  way  of  the  Iroquois 
country,  but  without  success.  Farther  information  was  however 
collected  by  Fathers  Dablon  and  Allouez,  who  in  1672  explored 
the  regions  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  then  occupied  by  the  Chipewii, 
Menomonie  and  Outagamie  Indians,  returning  down  the  Fox  or 


1672.]  JOLIET  UNDERTAKES  TO  EXPLORE  THE  MISSISSIPPI.      187 

Outagamie  river,  falling  into  the  south-west  extremity  of  Green 
Bay,  or  Baie  des  Puants,as  it  was  then  called  from  the  filthy  habits 
of  the  Menomonie  Indians  dwelling  near  it;  and  this  expedition 
prepared  the  way  for  another  completed  in  the  following  year 
which  proved,  as  will  be  shewn,  highly  important  in  its  results.* 

While  Dablon  and  Allouez  were  engaged  in  their  expedition, 
the  government  of  New  France  was  conducted  provisionally  by 
the  Intendant,  M.  Talon,  who  had  always  displayed  much  zeal 
for  the  prosecution  of  discoveries  in  those  countries.  In  the 
summer  of  1672,  however,  the  Count  de  Frontenac  arrived  in 
Canada  as  Governor  and  Captain  General,  with  whose  adminis 
tration,  a  new  area  was  begun  in  the  history  of  French  America. 
Frontenac,  a  bold,  ambitious,  unscrupulous  man,  impelled  by  the 
desire  to  extend  the  dominion  of  his  nation  over  as  large  a  por 
tion  of  the  continent  as  possible,  entered  at  once  into  the  views 
of  Talon,  for  the  exploration  of  the  western  regions,  with  the  ob 
ject  of  thereby  increasing  the  trade  and  influence  of  the  French; 
and  Louis  Joliet,  a  Canadian  largely  interested  in  the  Indian 
trade,  being  then  about  to  depart  on  an  expedition  to  the  Upper 
Lakes,  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Governor,  to  endeavor  to 
ascertain  the  course  and  outlet  of  the  Great  River,  in  order  to 
determine  how  far  its  occupation  might  be  advantageous  for  the 
objects  above  indicated. 

Joliet  accordingly  on  his  way  up  the  lakes,  made  inquiries  as 
to  the  best  mode  of  fulfilling  this  commission;  and  on  reaching 
Michilimackinack,  he  received  from  Dablon  and  Allouez,  ac 
counts  of  their  recent  journey  through  the  countries  west  of  Lake 
Michigan,  which  determined  him  to  attempt  the  discovery  of  the 
Great  River  in  that  direction,  and  without  further  delay.  Mar- 
quette,  though  aged  and  infirm,  readily  consented  to  accompany 
him ;  and  having  agreed  upon  their  route  through  the  Baie  des 

*The  map  on  the  opposite  page,  is  intended  to  illustrate  the  accounts  here 
presented,  of  the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi  regions,  by  the  French ;  with 
which  object,  the  geography  of  the  rivers  and  coasts  is  given  according  to  the 
latest  and  most  correct  maps  and  reports,  and  the  positions  of  the  various  Indian 
nations,  occupying  those  countries  at  the  time  of  their  discovery,  are  indicated  by 
the  names,  most  commonly  applied  to  each,  in  the  narratives  of  the  explorers. 
The  map  has  been  compiled  by  the  author  with  great  care  ;  the  orthography  of 
the  Indian  names  being  fixed,  as  in  the  text,  in  the  manner  calculated,  according 
to  his  judgment,  to  represent  the  true  sound  as  nearly  as  possible,  without  de 
viating  too  far,  from  the  form  already  in  general  use. 


188  EXPEDITION    OF    JOLIET    AND    MARQUETTE.  [1673. 

Puants  and  the  Outagamie  river,  they  departed  from  the  mission 
of  Michilimackinack,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1673.* 

*A11  that  is  now  known  with  certainty  of  the  expedition  of  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette  to  the  Mississippi,  is  derived  from  the  narrative  of  Marquette.  Joliet  lost 
all  his  notes  and  journals  on  his  way  back  near  Montreal,  where  he,  however, 
published  a  short  account  of  his  adventures  from  memory,  of  which  no  copy  is 
believed  to  be  now  in  existence;  though  an  extract  or  abstract  in  English  is  ap 
pended  to  the  translation  of  Hennepin's  "Nouvelle  Decouverte"  published  at 
London  in  1698 :  it  is  a  concise  description  of  the  route,  such  as  would  be  writ 
ten  at  the  present  day  for  a  newspaper  by  a  traveller,  immediately  on  his  re 
turn  from  an  expedition,  in  order  to  allay  the  curiosity  of  the  public. 

The  narrative  of  Marquette  was  first  published  at  Paris  in  1681,  by  Thevenot, 
in.his  "  Recueil  de  quelques  voyages,"  under  the  title  of  "  Decouverte  de  quelques 
pays  et  nations  de  PAmerique  Septrentrionale  :"  it  attracted  little  notice  ;  and 
being  unaccompanied  by  any  account  of  its  communication,  or  other  proof  of 
authenticity,  it  has  been  ever  since  regarded  by  many,  as  one  of  those  literary 
forgeries,  so  common  at  that  time  in  France  and  Holland.  It  contains  however 
nothing  of  consequence  respecting  the  countries  said  to  have  been  visited,  which 
has  not  been  since  confirmed,  and  the  map  attached  to  it,  though  rude,  is  too 
nearly  accurate,  to  have  been  constructed  without  a  knowledge  of  the  regions 
represented. 

The  author  of  this  history  is  at  present  enabled  to  pronounce  with  conviction 
of  certainty,  in  favor  of  the  authenticity  of  the  narrative  published  by  Thevenot, 
as  he  has  compared  it  with  a  copy  carefully  made,  from  a  copy  of  Marquette's 
original  account  written  by  the  hand  of  his  devoted  friend  Father  Dablon, 
which  has  been  recently  discovered  in  Montreal,  among  many  other  papers,  re 
lating  to  the  missions  of  the  Jesuits  in  Canada.  The  printed  narrative  indeed 
omits  several  passages,  but  none  of  any  importance  connected  with  the  main 
points  of  the  expedition  ;  and  it  may  therefore  be  regarded  confidently,  as  ema 
nating  from  the  pen  of  the  venerable  Jesuit,  and  as  containing  a  correct  state 
ment  of  the  circumstances  of  their  memorable  expedition.  Attached  to  Dab- 
Ion's  copy  is  a  map  of  the  route  traced  on  transparent  paper,  no  doubt  from  Mar 
quette's  original :  it  resembles  the  map  published  by  Thevenot,  of  which  it  pro 
bably  formed  the  basis ;  the  latter  is  however  more  nearly  correct,  perhaps  in 
consequence  of  information  received  from  La  Salle,  as  there  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that  it  was  not  published  until  after  the  period  noted  on  the  title  page. 

The  narrative  of  Marquette,  though  amply  sufficient,  to  indicate. the  route 
pursued,  is  by  no  means  rich  in  geographical  details;  a  large  portion  of  it  being 
employed  in  accounts  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Indians,  and  specula 
tions  as  to  the  best  mode  of  converting  them  to  Christianity,  like  those  which 
are  occasionally  written  by  our  Protestant  missionaries  of  the  present  day.  If  it 
was  really  published,  in  1681,  as  declared  by  its  title  page,  it  was  certainly  the 
earliest  account  given  to  the  world  of  the  territories  described  ;  as  Hennepin  the 
only  civilized  person,  except  Joliet  and  Marquette  and  their  companions,  who 
had  then  seen  the  Upper  Mississippi,  did  not  return  to  France  until  the  end  of 
that  year,  and  did  not  probably  publish  his  narrative  before  1683,  though  it  is 
dated  in  1682.  The  descriptions  of  those  regions  and  their  inhabitants  given  by 
Hennepin,  are  so  much  more  full  and  clear  than  those  of  the  Jesuit,  that  the  lat 
ter  must  have  been  superseded  almost  immediately  after  their  publication. 


1673.]    JOLIET  AND  MARQUETTE  REACH  THE  MISSISSIPPI.         189 

Agreeably  to  the  concise  accounts  which  have  been  preserved 
of  their  expedition,  the  two  travellers,  accompanied  by  five  other 
Frenchmen,  and  some  natives  as  guides,  quitted  Michilimacki- 
nack,*  in  two  bark  canoes;  and  proceeding  along  the  north  coast 
of  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois  or  Lake  Michigan,  towards  the  west, 
they  entered  the  Baie  des  Puants,  and  arrived  in  safety  about  the 
beginning  of  June,  in  the  mouth  of  the  Outagamie.  The  Outa- 
gamie  Indians  at  this  place,  on  learning  the  objects  of  the  French 
men,  endeavored  to  dissuade  them  from  venturing  on  the  Great 
River,  which  was  represented  as  beset  by  dangers  of  various 
kinds,  rocks,  rapids,  whirlpools,  cannibals,  monsters  and  de 
mons.  Marquette,  however,  while  thanking  them  for  their  advice, 
firmly  declared  his  determination  to  persevere  in  the  enterprise ; 
as  his  companion  had  been  sent  by  their  sovereign,  to  discover 
new  countries,  while  he  himself  was  engaged  in  the  service  of  a 
deity,  who  would  protect  them  against  all  perils:  and  having  pro 
cured  the  assistance  of  several  Indians,,  they  immediately  began 
the  ascent  of  the  stream.  After  laboring;  for  more  than  a  week 

O 

against  the  current,  passing  through  many  lakes  and  ponds 
covered  with  wild  rice,  and  frequently  transporting  their  canoes 
arid  baggage  across  necks  of  land,  they  on  the  9th  of  the  month, 
reached  a  large  village,  inhabited  by  savages  of  several  nations, 
which  had  been  visited  by  Dablon  and  Allouez  in  the  preceding 
year,  and  was  the  farthermost  spot  in  those  regions  known  to 
Europeans.  Within  two  leagues  of  this  village  they  discovered 
another  river,  called  by  the  natives  Ouisconsin  or  Wisconsin, 
which  flowed  towards  the  south-west ;  and  transporting  their  barks 
to  it,  they  continued  their  journey  in  that  direction.  The  current 
bore  them  gently  down,  and  on  the  16th  they  beheld,  rolling  before 
them,  the  wraters  of  the  Great  River,  which  they  "entered,"  says 
Marquette,  "happily,  and  with  a  joy  not  to  be  expressed." 
The  travellers  found  the  Great  River  wide,  deep  and  trans- 

*  Michilimackinack,  signifying  Great  Turtle,  was  the  name  of  the  island,  now 
called  by  abbreviation,  Mackinac  or  Mackinaw,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Michigan ; 
the  Jesuit  mission,  however,  was  situated  on  the  point  of  the  mainland  imme 
diately  north,  which  is  now  known  as  Point  Ignatius.  The  island  was  regarded 
with  great  respect  by  the  Indians  as  the  residence  of  Michaboo  the  God  of  the 
Waters,  who  formed  Lake  Superior  by  raising  up  the  rocks  across  its  outlet. 
Michigan  is  an  abbreviation  of  Michigamink,  signifying  a  very  great  water,  in 
the  language  of  the  Indians  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  lake. 


190  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSOURI.          [1673. 

parent,  flowing  gently  between  forests  and  prairies,  and  in  many 
places,  divided  into  several  channels  by  islands;  on  its  banks 
were  seen  large  herds  of  buffalos,  and  flocks  of  aquatic  birds  rested 
on  its  surface,  beneath  which  swam  myriads  of  fish,  some  of 
monstrous  form  and  size.  After  a  voyage  of  a  week  down  the 
stream  southward,  they,  on  the  25th  of  June,  reached  an  exten 
sive  village  or  encampment  of  Indians,  of  a  nation  already 
known  to  the  French  by  the  name  of  Illinois,*  or  Men,  which 
they  seemed  to  deserve,  by  their  kindness  and  hospitality,  as 
well  as  their  frank  and  gallant  bearing.  Peace  and  good  feel 
ing  were  soon  established  between  the  savages  and  the  white 
strangers,  who  smoked  together  with  great  solemnity  the  sacred 
calumet  of  peace,  made  of  the  beautiful  red  steatite  or  pipe-stone, 
found  on  the  banks  of  the  river  above,  and  ornamented  with 
rich  feathers;  and  so  well  satisfied  were  the  Frenchmen  with  their 
hosts,  that  they  remained  several  days  at  the  village,  enjoying  the 
feasts  and  dances,  prepared  to  do  them  honor. 

Marquette  and  Joliet  took  leave  of  their  friends,  the  Illinois, 
in  the  latter  part  of  June,  carrying  with  them  a  pipe  as  a  passport 
to  ensure  their  safety;  and  continuing  their  voyage  down  the 
Mississippi  they  were,  a  few  days  afterwards,  warned,  by  the 
rushing  of  waters,  of  their  approach  to  the  point  of  its  junction 
with  the  mightier  river  from  the  west,  called  by  the  natives  the 
Pekitanouni,  and  now  the  Missouri.  Of  the  dangers  of  this  place 
they  had  received  notice  from  the  Illinois ;  and  they  indeed  nar 
rowly  escaped  destruction,  with  which  they  were  for  some  time 
threatened,  by  the  collision  between  their  slender  barks,  and  the 
immense  trunks  of  trees  borne  down  by  the  turbid,  angry  river 
of  the  west.  They  next  passed  in  safety,  the  rocky  bluffs  or  points 
on  the  right  bank,  which  were  then  invested  by  the  Indians,  writh 
all  the  malevolent  attributes  assigned  to  Scylla,  by  the  ancient 
mariners  of  the  Mediterranean;  and  on  the  following  day,  they 
observed  on  the  east  the  entrance  of  the  wide  but  placid  Oua- 
bouskigou,  which  now  bears  the  more  euphonious  and  appropriate 

*  Under  this  general  name  of  Illini,  or  Innini,  or  Linni,  of  which  Illinois  is  the 
French  form,  were  embraced  a  number  of  tribes  of  the  same  nation  or  language, 
dwelling  on  the  Illinois  river  and  on  the  Mississippi,  above  and  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Illinois,  and  composing  a  confederacy  like  that  of  the  Iroquois ;  of  which 
the  principal  tribes  were  the  Kaskaskia,  the  Tamaroa,  the  Cahokia,  the  Peoria, 
and  the  Michigamea. 


1673.]    THE  MISSISSIPPI  TRACED  DOWN  TO  THE  ARKANSAS.     191 

name  of  Ohio,*  bestowed  on  its  north-easternmost  branch  by  the 
Iroquois,  in  token  of  admiration  of  its  beauty.  Pursuing  their 
course  Without  any  difficulties  worthy  of  note,  except  the  perse 
cutions  of  mosquitos,  they  met  several  parties  of  Indians — proba 
bly  Chickasas — in  canoes  of  wood,  in  whose  possession  were 
seen  fire-arms,  glass  bottles,  and  other  articles  of  European  fabric, 
obtained,  no  doubt,  from  Virginia;  and  farther  down,  they  reached 
a  large  village  of  Michigameas  on  the  west  bank,  where  strong 
signs  of  hostility  were  exhibited  towards  them  by  the  natives. 
The  Jesuit  however,  had  recourse  to  his  "patroness  and  guide,  the 
immaculate  Holy  Virgin,"  who  softened  the  hearts  of  the  savages, 
and  induced  them  to  accept  the  calumet  of  peace;  and  the  travellers 
continuing  their  voyage,  arrived  on  the  15th  of  July  at  the  villages 
of  the  Akamska  or  Akansea,  opposite  the  mouth  of  a  large  river 
entering  from  the  west,  which  could  only  have  been  the  Arkansas 
Joliet  and  Marquette  had  then,  according  to  their  observations 
of  the  sun's  altitude,  descended  below  the  parallel  of  34  degrees; 
and  as  their  course  had  been  constantly  southward,  since  their 
embarcation  on  the  Mississippi,  with  no  material  deflection  either 
to  the  east  or  the  west,  they  considered  themselves  justified  in 
assuming  as  determined,  that  the  Great  River  discharged  its  waters 
into  the  Mexican  Gulf.  Under  this  conviction,  and  apprehending 
danger  from  the  Spaniards  farther  south,  they  on  the  17th  of  July, 
begun  their  voyage  back  to  Canada.  Laboring  against  the  cur 
rent,  which  had  so  much  facilitated  their  passage  down,'  they  as 
cended  the  Great  River,  to  the  entrance  of  the  Illinois  near  the  39th 
degree  of  latitude :  up  this  stream  they  proceeded  to  the  vicinity  of 
Lake  Michigan,  and  crossing  by  land  to  that  lake  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Chicago,  they  returned  along  the  western  shore  to  Green 
Bay  in  September.  They  had  effected  a  grand  geographical  dis- 

*  The  word  Ohio — or  Oyo  as  more  properly  written  according  to  its  true  sound 
in  the  early  French  narratives — is  supposed  to  have  been  an  exclamation  used 
by  the  Iroquois,  equivalent  to  Oh !  Beautiful !  The  Indians  of  the  countries 
through  Avhich  its  upper  waters  flow,  called  it  Alighin-Sipou,  or  River  of  the 
Alighins,  from  a  nation  who  are  reported  by  tradition  to  have  invaded  those  coun 
tries  at  some  early  period  from  the  west;  and  that  name,  altered  to  Alleghany, 
is  still  applied  to  its  north-easternmost  branch.  The  same  name  was  also  as 
signed  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  to  the  northern  portion  of  the  great 
chain  of  mountains  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  from  those  flowing  di 
rectly  to  the  Atlantic,  of  which  the  southern  portion  was  called  the  Apalachian 
mountains ;  and  it  has  since  been  made  common  to  the  whole  range. 


192       LAST  LABORS  A^'D  DEATH  OF  MARQUETTE.    [1675. 

covery,  in  consequence  of  which  their  names  were  to  be  insepara 
bly  connected  with  the  history  of  the  vast  regions  of  the  Missis 
sippi  :  yet  the  worthy  Jesuit,  in  concluding  the  narrative  Sf  their 
expedition,  rejoices— not  in  having  made  known  the  existence 
and  traced  the  course  of  the  greatest  of  rivers — but  in  having 
been  permitted  to  preach  the  gospel  first,  to  some  thousands  of 
savages,  and  more  especially  to  save  the  soul  of  an  Illinois  child, 
whom  he  had  baptised  in  its  dying  moments. 

From  Green  Bay,  Joliet  hastened  to  Quebec,  carrying  the 
journals  of  the  expedition,  which  were  however  unfortunately 
lost,  by  the  upsetting  of  his  canoe  near  Montreal;  so  that  he 
could  only  represent  the  particulars  of  the  discovery  from  memory, 
in  a  concise  sketch  of  his  adventures  published  in  Canada.  Mar- 
quette  quietly  returned  to  his  ordinary  labors  as  a  missionary,  for 
the  prosecution  of  which  among  the  Illinois,  he  made  another  ex 
pedition  to  that  country,  with  his  devoted  friend  Dablon  in  1675. 
But  the  good  man's  course  was  nearly  run;  his  strength  failed  at 
Chicago,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  Michilimackinack,  on 
the  way  to  which,  his  life  was  ended  quietly  on  the  18th  of  May, 
at  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream,  now  bearing  his  name,  on  the 
the  north-west  side  of  the  State  of  Michigan.*  His  simple  narra 
tive  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  published  six  years  after 
wards,  has  retrieved  his  memory  from  the  oblivion  into  which  it 
would  otherwise  have  fallen;  and  it  has  at  the  same  time — though 
doubtless  contrary  to  the  intention  of  the  worthy  Jesuit — deprived 
Joliet  of  his  share  of  the  merit  of  the  enterprise,  in  which  he 
was  the  principal,  and  Marquette  only  a  coadjutor. 

Joliet  on  arriving  in  Canada,  found  the  Count  de  Frontenac  so 
much  engrossed  by  his  controversy  with  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
as  to  the  part  which  the  latter  might  take  in  the  civil  administra 
tion,  and  by  his  projects  for  obtaining  possession  of  the  Iroquois 

*  The  particulars  of  this  last  journey  of  Marquette  to  the  Illinois  and  of  the 
death  of  the  venerable  Jesuit,  are  related  by  Father  Dablon,  with  much  minute 
ness,  in  a  memoir  among  the  papers  recently  discovered  at  Montreal.  The  re 
mains  of  Marquette  were  in  1677,  removed  with  great  solemnity,  and  accom 
panied  by  crowds  of  Indians  in  canoes,  from  the  place  of  his  death,  to  the 
church  at  Michilimackinack,  where — as  Dablon  relates — a  woman  was  soon  after 
miraculously  relieved  from  a  long  and  apparently  incurable  disease,  in  considera 
tion  of  prayers  said  over  his  grave.  Other  miracles  might  have  been  effected, 
and  the  worthy  Jesuit  might  in  due  time  have  been  admitted  to  canonization,  had 
not, the  mission  been  unfortunately  abandoned,  and  the  church  left  to  ruin. 


1675.]  ACCOUNT  OF  LA  SALLE.  193 

country,  that  he  had  no  leisure  to  devote  to  matters  of  so  little 
immediate  importance,  as  the  exploration  of  the  distant  regions 
beyond  the  lakes.  The  Governor  indeed  communicated  the  fact 
of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  king,  most  ungenerously 
suppressing  the  name  of  Marquette  in  his  report;  it  however 
attracted  little  attention  in  Canada  and  less  in  Europe,  and  re 
mained  for  several  years  known  only  to  a  few  individuals. 

There  was  however  one  person  in  Canada,  already  mentioned, 
on  whom  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  immediately 
produced  a  strong  impression ;  this  was  Robert  Cavelier  de  la 
Salle,  a  native  of  Rouen,  then  residing  as  an  Indian  trader,  at  Fort 
Cataraqui,  where  he  had  recently  formed  an  establishment,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  Governor  General.  Of  the  previous  history  of 
this  remarkable  man,  little  is  to  be  said:  he  had  been  educated 
by  the  Jesuits  in  France,  and  remained  a  member  of  their  order 
nine  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  obtained  his  discharge  from 
the  society,  either  in  consequence  of  some  private  discontent  or 
disgust,  or  from  a  desire  to  employ  himself  in  more  active  pur 
suits,  and  came  to  America  in  1667.  There  he  entered  into  the 
trade  with  the  Indians,  in  which  he  seems  to  have  been  success 
ful;  and  having  gained  the  favor  of  Count  de  Frontenac,  he 
obtained  permission  to  form  the  trading  post  at  Fort  Cataraqui, 
by  means  of  which  his  communications  with  the  interior  coun 
tries,  were  considerably  increased.  The  events  of  his  subsequent 
career  belong  to  the  history  of  America:  respecting  his  character, 
it  may  be  said  in  anticipation,  that  those  events,  together  with  the 
concurring  testimony  of  all  who  knew  him,  show  him  to  have 
been  aspiring,  courageous,  energetic  and  persevering  in  the  ex 
treme,  and  no  less  overbearing,  self-willed,  and  disdainful  of  the 
opinions  of  others. 

From  the  moment  of  his  arrival  in  America,  La  Salle  had  en 
tertained  the  design  of  seeking  a  passage  through  the  continent 
to  Mexico  or  to  the  Pacific  ;*  writh  which  view,  he  had  endeavored 

*  "M.  Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle,1'  says  Hennepin,  in  the  commencement  of 
his  first  work,  published  in  1682,  "had  been  for  many  years  persuaded  by  the 
accounts  received  from  various  savage  nations,  that  considerable  establishments 
might  be  formed  in  the  south-west,  beyond  the  great  lakes;  and  tnat  it  might  be 
possible,  even  to  penetrate  to  the  South  Sea,  by  way  of  the  large  stream,  called 
the  Hohio,  by  the  Iroquois,  which  falls  into  the  Mescha-sibi,  or  Grand  river,  as 
that  word  signifies  in  the  language  of  the  Illinois." 

25 


194  FRONTENAC  GOVERNOR  OF  CANADA.        [1675. 

to  collect  information  from  the  Indians,  with  regard  to  rivers 
running  southward  or  westward:  and  he  had  carefully  studied  the 
old  Spanish  chronicles  and  histories,  relating  to  the  discoveries  and 
establishments  of  that  nation  in  the  northern  division  of  the  New 
World.  He  communicated  his  views  to  Courcelles  the  Governor 
and  to  Talon,  from  whom  he  does  not  seem  to  have  received 
the  encouragement  anticipated;  and  it  has  even  been  insinuated,* 
though  upon  grounds  by  no  means  sufficient,  that  the  expedition 
of  Joliet  and  Marquette,  was  made  in  consequence  of  his  sugges 
tions,  but  with  the  intention  of  depriving  him  of  the  merit  of 
the  discovery.  The  results  of  that  expedition  however,  strongly 
excited  the  imagination  of  La  Salle:  he  became  convinced  that 
the  great  river  flowing  from  the  north  through  the  region  beyond 
the  lakes,  could  be  no  other  than  the  Rio  Grande,  down  which 
the  followers  of  Soto  had  been  carried  to  the  Mexican  Gulf  in 
1543;  and  that  if  this  should  be  confirmed,  the  means  of  access 
would  be  opened  to  the  rich  mines  of  the  Spanish  provinces,  and 
perhaps  also  to  China,  Japan  and  the  East  Indies.  Visions  of 
wealth  and  glory  were  thus  raised  up  before  the  trader  of  Fort 
Cataraqui,  who  resolved  if  possible  to  realize  them. 

Canada  at  that  time  presented  a  fair  field  for  enterprising  men. 
Among  the  plans  for  increasing  the  power  of  France,  or  rather 
of  its  sovereign,  the  arrogant  and  grasping  Louis  XIV.,  America 
was  not  forgotten ;  and  the  opportunity  afforjed  by  the  base 
venality  of  the  king  of  England,  for  the  extension  of  French  do 
minion  in  the  New  World  was  not  neglected.  With  these  views, 
the  crown  had  resumed  the  entire  possession  of  New  France,  by 
extinguishing  the  privileges  of  the  West  India  company ;  and 
the  bold  and  ambitious  Count  de  Frontenac  had  been  chosen  to 
direct  its  first  operations.  The  new  governor  from  the  commence 
ment  resolved  to  secure  the  Iroquois  countries,  against  the  Eng- 

*" Whilst  M.  de  la  Salle  was  thus  engaged  in  building  his  fort,  those  who  envied 
him,  judging  from  what  he  had  already  done  with  so  much  advantage,  that  he 
might  effect  still  more  with  the  aid  of  our  Recollet  Fathers,  who  were  by  their 
disinterested  conduct,  drawing  so  many  families  around  the  fort,  excited  M.  Jo 
liet  to  forestal  him  in  his  discoveries;  and  that  person  accordingly  went  by  way 
of  the  Baie  des  Puants,  to  the  river  Mescha-sibi,  which  he  descended  as  far  as 
the  Illinois  country,  and  thence  came  back  to  Canada,  by  the  lakes,  without  hav 
ing  made  any  attempt,  then  or  since,  to  form  any  establishment,  or  to  give  any 
information  to  the  Court."  Hennepin,  p.  15. 


1675.]  FIRST    PROJECTS    OF    LA    SALLE.  195 

lish,  and  if  possible  to  establish  the  authority  of  France  over 
them:  and  for  this  object  he  strengthened  and  extended  the  forts 
on  the  waters  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  erected  that  of  Cataraqui,  at 
a  place  ever  since  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  military 
positions  in  Canada;  while  he  at  the  same  time  employed  all  the 
persuasive  means  at  his  disposal,  by  visiting  the  Iroquois  coun 
tries  frequently,  and  dispatching  French  traders  and  missionaries 
among  them.  His  controversy  with  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  im 
mediately  on  his  arrival,  had  indeed  armed  against  him  the 
higher  clergy,  and  the  Jesuits,  who  then  possessed  great  influ 
ence  at  Court ;  one  of  the  principal  grounds  of  this  dispute,  os 
tensibly  at  least,  being  the  opposition  of  those  ecclesiastics  to  the 
distribution  of  spirituous  liquors  among  the  Indians,  from  wThich 
the  traders  derived  a  large  portion  of  their  profits.  Frontenac  in 
sisted  that  no  restrictions  of  that  kind  should  be  imposed,  as  they 
could  only  serve  to  give  advantages  to  the  English,  who  had  no 
such  scruples;  and  the  interests  of  the  traders  being  in  all  re 
spects  in  accordance  with  the  objects  of  the  sovereign,  the  gov 
ernor  was  able  to  maintain  his  position,  notwithstanding  the  pub 
lic  disapproval  by  the  Court  of  his  acts  on  that  particular  point. 
The  traders  in  consequence  gave  him  their  entire  and  efficient 
support,  as  also  did  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy,  especially 
the  Recollets  who  had  been  invited  to  return  to  New  France  in 
1669;  while  the  Jesuits  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  missions 
on  the  upper  lakes. 

After  some  time,  La  Salle  made  known  his  views,  though  with 
reserve,  to  Frontenac,  who  approved  them  in  every  respect;  and 
with  this  assurance  he  proceeded  in  1675,  to  France,  where  he 
submitted  his  immediate  plans  to  the  government.  The  cele 
brated  Colbert,  then  Comptroller  General  of  the  finances  to 
Louis  XIV.,  warmly  entered  into  the  scheme;  and  as  a  first  con 
tribution  for  its  success,  he  obtained  for  the  ardent  adventurer, 
letters  patent  of  nobility,  which  wrere  then  indispensable  for  ad 
vancement  in  any  but  the  most  ordinary  pursuits,  together  with 
the  governorship  of  Fort  Cataraqui,  or  Frontenac  as  it  was  thence 
forth  called,  and  the  lordship  of  the  surrounding  tract  of  country. 
With  this  addition  to  his  means, .La  Salle  returned  to  Canada,  and 
there  spent  the  two  following  years,  in  extending  his  trade  among 
the  Indians,  and  establishing  settlers  on  his  lands;  in  the  course  of 


196  COMMISSION    GRANTED    TO    LA    SALLE.  [1678. 

which  he  made  several  voyages  to  the  western  extremity  of  Lake 
Ontario,  in  vessels  built  at  his  fort:  and  he  then  again  went  to 
France,  where  through  the  influence  of  Colbert  and  the  Prince 
of  Conti,  he  obtained  the  authority  requisite  for  the  commence 
ment  of  his  great  enterprise.  This  was  given,  in  the  form  of  a 
commission  or  letters  patent,  dated  the  12th  of  May,  1678,  se 
curing  to  La  ITalle  full  powers  and  exclusive  right,  to  discovei 
the  unknown  territories,  in  the  western  part  of  New  France,  and 
to  erect  forts  in  them,  which  he  was  to  hold  and  govern  on  the 
same  terms,  as  Fort  Frontenac ;  provided  that  he  should  effect 
his  enterprise  \vithin  the  period  of  five  years :  the  exclusive  trade 
in  buffalo  skins  and  furs  in  all  the  countries  west  of  those  of  the 
Ottawa  Indians,  being  at  the  same  time  conferred  on  him. 

With  this  precious  document,  giving  him  all  the  authority 
which  he  required,  and  all  the  assistance  which  he  could  have 
expected,  La  Salle  returned  to  Quebec,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
15th  of  September,  1678.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  Cheva 
lier  Henri  de  Tonty,  an  Italian  officer  who  had  distinguished 
himself  in  the  service  of  France,  on  land  and  on  sea,  and  had  ob 
tained  leave  to  join  in  the  enterprise;  and  he  also  brought  with 
him  a  ship  builder,  a  pilot,  and  some  seamen,  for  the  voyages 
which  might  be  necessary  on  the  lakes.  After  a  few  days  spent 
at  Quebec,  they  hastened  to  Fort  Frontenac,  and  thence  to  the 
Niagara  river,  where  they  begun  the  construction  of  a  vessel 
above  the  falls.  As  soon  as  this  work  was  sufficiently  advanced 
to  admit  of  his  absence,  La  Salle  returned  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
from  which  he  continued  to  send  provisions  and  goods  for  trade 
to  the  Niagara;  and  he  was  himself  preparing  to  set  out  for  that 
place,  on  his  expedition  to  the  west,  in  the  middle  of  the  year 
1679,  when  he  was  arrested  by  the  receipt  of  painful  intelligence 
from  Montreal.  His  creditors  becoming  alarmed  by  the  apparent 
wildness  of  his  views  and  movements,  had  seized  the  property  in 
his  stores  at  La  Chine  near  that  town,  and  caused  it  to  be  sold, 
with  great  loss  to  the  owner.  The  injury  thus  inflicted  on  La 
Salle's  means  and  prospects  was  serious,  and  might  have  in 
volved  the  entire  overthrow  of  his  plans ;  he  did  not,  however, 
allow  it  to  depress  him,  but  so  soon  as  he  had  done  all  that  lay 
in  his  power  to  prevent  farther  damage,  he  set  out  for  the  Niagara 
river,  where  he  arrived  in  the  latter  part  of  July. 


1679.]  PREPARATIONS  OF  LA  SALLE.  197 

On  arriving  in  the  Niagara,*  La  Salle  found  his  vessel  com 
pleted;  she  was  of  about  forty  tons  burthen,  and  was  named  Le 
Griffon,  in  honor  of  the  Count  de  Frontenac,  who  bore  a  griffin  on 
his  arms.  All  things  being  in  readiness  for  her  voyage,  she 
emerged  from  the  river  into  Lake  Erie  on  the  7th  of  August,  1679 : 
her  crew  consisted  of  La  Salle  and  three  inferior  officers,  three 
Recollets,  namely,  Louis  Hennepin,  Zenobe  Mambre,  and  Ga 
briel  de  la  Ribourde,  and  twenty-seven  other  persons,  mostly 

*  All  that  is  known  of  La  Salle's  expeditions  to  the  Mississippi  countries,  is 
derived  from  the  accounts  of  three  of  his  companions,  hereafter  particularly 
mentioned ;  namely,  Henri  de  Tonty  his  lieutenant,  and  the  Recollets  Zenobe 
Mambre  and  Louis  Hennepin.  La  Salle  himself  published  nothing,  and  was  on 
the  contrary  always  anxious  to  keep  his  plans  and  proceedings  secret. 

The  work  entitled  "Dernieres  decouvertes  dans  1'Amerique  Septentrionale  de 
M.  de  la  Salle,'1  published  at  Paris  in  1697,  and  afterwards  translated  into  Eng 
lish,  was  immediately  disavowed  by  Tonty,  to  whom  the  authorship  was  as 
signed  on  its  title  page ;  and  appears  to  have  been  one  of  those  literary  forgeries 
so  frequent  at  that  period,  though  it  was  undoubtedly  founded  ori  a  memoir  ad 
dressed  by  Tonty,  to  the  French  government  in  1692.  A  translation  of  this  me 
moir,  (of  which  the  original  is  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  marine 
department  at  Paris,)  was  published  at  London  in  1841  by  Falconer,  in  his  work  on 
the  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of 
America,  as  it  bears  in  all  points  the  impress  of  truth,  and  throws  light  on  sev 
eral  questions  not  before  clearly  understood.  See  hereafter  the  note  on  page  230. 

The  "  Description  de  la  Louisiane  nouvellement  decouverte,"  by  Father  Louis 
Hennepin,  appeared  at  P.aris  in  the  winter  of  1682-3.  It  relates  only  to  a  por 
tion  of  the  first  expedition  of  La  Salle,  to  the  Mississippi  regions,  of  which  it  is 
however  by  far  the  best  account  extant,  and  is  highly  honorable  to  the  intelli 
gence,  good  sense  and  perseverance  of  the  author.  It  has  never  been  translated 
into  English.  Unfortunately  for  the  memory  of  Hennepin,  he  many  years  after 
wards,  published  other  works,  on  the  same  subject,  in  which  vanity  or  self-inter 
est,  or  wounded  feelings,  induced  him  to  represent  all  the  circumstances  in  a 
light  entirely  different  from  that  in  which  he  had  first  exhibited  them,  and  to 
commit  numerous  and  palpable  falsehoods,  as  will  be  shewn  in  the  notice  of 
those  works,  in  the  eighth  chapter. 

Father  Zenobe's  narrative,  embraces  the  whole  of  both  the  expeditions  of  La 
Salle  for  the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi  on  which  it  is  the  best  and  almost 
the  only  evidence  remaining,  except  as  regards  the  portion  described  by  Henne 
pin.  It  was  published  in  1691,  in  a  small  work  entitled  "Premier  etablisse- 
ment  de  la  Foy  dans  la  Nouvelle  France,"  by  Father  Chrestien  le  Clercq,  contain 
ing  accounts  of  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Recollets  in  New  France,  com 
piled  chiefly,  from  the  records  of  the  convents  of  that  order,  in  Quebec  and  Mon 
treal.  This  work  was  suppressed  immediately  after  its  appearance,  doubtless  in 
consequence  of  the  severe  and  generally  coarse  and  unjust  reflections,  cast  upon 
the  Jesuits,  and  is  now  rarely  to  be  found ;  the  author  of  the  present  history, 
is  indebted  for  the  means  of  examining  it,  to  the  Hon.  George  Bancroft,  who 
possesses  a  copy,  probably  the  only  one  in  the  United  States. 


198  COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    EXPEDITION.  [1679. 

vagabonds  from  Canada;  Tonty  had  been  sent  in  advance,  to 
make  preparations  at  Detroit.  The  vessel  proved  to  be  a  very 
dull  sailer,  and  her  men  were  discontented  and  refractory;  she 
however  made  her  voyage  in  safety,  and  having  taken  up  Tonty 
at  Detroit,  the  whole  party  reached  Mackinac  on  the  27th  of  the 
month.  From  that  place  Tonty  was  again  detached  to  the  Sault 
St.  Marie,  in  search  of  some  deserters:  La  Salle  continued  his 
voyage  to  Green  Bay,  where  he  passed  a  few  days  on  the  island 
near  the  entrance  in  trading  with  the  Pottawatamie  Indians ;  and 
having  thus  obtained  a  cargo  of  furs,  he  sent  them  in. the  vessel 
back  to  Niagara,  under  the  charge  of  the  pilot,  wTho  was  ordered 
to  return  as  soon  as  possible  with  supplies  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Miami  river,  the  same  now  known  as  the  St.  Joseph,  falling  into 
Lake  Michigan  on  its  south-east  side.* 

After  the  departure  of  the  vessel  for  Niagara,  La  Salle  procured 
bark  canoes,  in  which  he  went  with  the  remainder  of  his  party 
along  the  western  Side  of  Lake  Michigan,  to  its  southern  ex 
tremity,  and  thence  northward  to  the  mouth  of  the  Miami:  why 
he  should  have  taken  this  circuitous  course,  instead  of  leaving 
the  lake  at  Chicago,  and  striking  across  to  the  Illinois,  the  ac 
counts  of  his  expedition  do  not  show.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
Miami,  a  fort  was  built,  where  the  French  remained  until  they 
were  joined  by  Tonty;  and  they  then  began  the  ascent  of  the 
river  on  the  3d  of  December,  leaving  two  men  at  its  mouth  with 
directions  for  the  pilot  to  follow  them  with  the  supplies,  which 
he  might  bring  in  the  vessel  from  Niagara.  At  the  distance  of 
eighty  miles  from  the  lake,  in  a  southern  direction,  they  discov 
ered  near  the  Miami,  another  river,  called  by  the  natives  Theakiki 
or  Kankakee,  flowing  westward ;  and  having  dragged  their  canoes 
and  effects  across  the  marshy  space  intervening,  they  embarked 
on  the  latter  stream,  down  which  they  floated  to  its  junction  with 
another  branch  from  the  north-west,  forming  by  their  confluence, 
the. large  river  of  the  Illinois.  Thence  they  continued  their  voy- 

*  Lake  Ontario  was  at  that  time  called  by  the  French  Lake  of  Frontenac ;  Lake 
Erie  was  the  Lake  of  Conti;  Lake  Huron  the  Lake  of  Orleans;  Lake  Michigan 
the  Lake  of  the  Illinois  and  Lake  Dauphin ;  Lake  Superior  was  first  named  Lake 
Tracy,  and  afterwards  Lake  Conde.  The  traders  applied  to  the  rivers  and  other 
places  visited  by  them,  the  names  used  by  the  Indians,  or  the  names  of  the  tribes 
or  nations  of  Indians  in  their  vicinity,  for  which  the  missionaries  generally  sub 
stituted  those  of  Saints. 


1680.] 


LA     SALLE     IN    THE    ILLINOIS     COUNTRY. 


199 


age  down  the  main  trunk,  to  which  La  Salle  gave  the  name  of 
Seignelaye,  (afterwards  transferred  by  him  to  Red  river)  in  honor 
of  the  eldest  son  of  the  minister  Colbert ;  and  in  this  manner, 
they  early  in  January,  1680,  reached  a  large  village  or  encamp 
ment  of  Illinois  Indians,  situated  at  the  lower  end  of  an  expansion 
of  the  river,  then  called  Pimitoui,  and  now  Peoria  Lake. 


•TFU.'rcvn-crur. 


At  this  place  the  natives  endeavored  to  deter  the  French  from 
the  farther  prosecution  of  their  enterprise,  by  threats  and  exag 
gerated  accounts  of  the  dangers;  which  produced  so  much  effect 
upon  the  men,  that  six  of  them  deserted  and  returned  to  Lake 
Michigan,  while  the  others  became  sullen  and  mutinous,  and  at 
tempted  to  poison  their  commander.  Under  these 'circumstances, 
La  Salle  considered  it  most  prudent  to  remain  at  that  place, 
until  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements  and  supplies  expected  by 
the  Griffon;  and  he  accordingly  erected  a  fort  on  a  little  eminence 
very  near  the  Indian  camp,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Creve- 
coeur,  or  Broken  Heart,  in  token  of  the  great  anxiety  expe 
rienced  by  him  at  that  spot. 

At  Fort  Crevecceur,  La  Salle  remained  from  the  middle  of 
January,  1680,  to  the  beginning  of  March,  during  which  period 
he  received  several  deputations  of  Indians  from  the  adjoining 


200  THE    FRENCH    AT    FORT    CREVECCEUR.  [1680. 

countries;  such  as  the  Osages  of  the  Missouri,  the  Miamis  of  the 
region  between  the  Illinois  and  Lake  Erie,  and  the  Chickasas 
from  the  lower  Mississippi.  The  Chickasas  were  the  first  peo 
ple  described  in  the  narratives  of  the  expedition  of  Soto,  who  were 
encountered  by  the  French;  and  from  them  La  Salle  obtained 
full  confirmation  of  his  opinion,  that  the  Mississippi  was  identical 
with  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  Spaniards. 

During  this  period,  a  small  vessel  was  commenced  at  the  fort, 
while  the  Friars  were  engaged  in  preaching  to  the  Indians ;  no 
news  however  was  received  of  the  Griffon,  and  the  vessel  in 
progress  of  construction  could  not  be  rendered  fit  for  use,  with 
out  the  iron  and  other  articles  expected  from  Canada.  At  length 
La  Salle,  in  despair,  resolved  to  go  himself  to  Fort  Frontenac 
for  the  supplies,  leaving  his  men  on  the  Illinois,  under  the  charge 
of  Tonty,  in  whom  he  placed  all  confidence ;  but  in  order  to 
secure  as  much  information  as  possible,  respecting  the  country 
farther  west,  he  despatched  Friar  Hennepin,*  wyith  two  other 
persons,  to  descend  the  Illinois  to  its  mouth,  and  thence  to  ex 
plore  the  Mississippi  northward  to  its  sources. 

La  Salle  quitted  Fort  Crevecoeur  on  the  2nd  of  March,  accom 
panied  by  three  men,  and  proceeded  to  Fort  Frontenac,  by  what 
route  we  know  not,  but  probably  across  the  country  from  the 
Kankakee  to  Lake  Erie.  On  reaching  his  fort,  he  learned  noth 
ing  but  bad  news :  the  Griffon  had  been  burnt  or  wrecked  on  Lake 
Michigan;  a  ship  from  France  laden  with  goods  belonging  to 
him,  had  been  lost  on  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence;  and 
the  people  at  Frontenac  had  robbed  him  of  a  large  amount  of 
property.  The  Governor  General  however  befriended  him,  so  that 
he  was  enabled,  on  the  23d  of  July,  to  set  out  again  for  the  Illi 
nois,  with  supplies  and  goods  for  trade:  but  on  reaching  that 
country  in  December,  he  found  his  fort  deserted,  and  being 
unable  to  learn  the  fate  of  his  people,  he  returned  to  Michili- 
mackinac,  where  he  met  Tonty  and  Father  Zenobe,  with  a  few 
men,  in  June,  1681. 

The  Lieutenant  and  the  Friar  had  a  sad  tale  to  relate,  as  the 

*  Hennepin  represents  these  as  two  common  persons,  named  Michel  Ako,  and 
Antoine  Auguil,  or  the  Picard  Du  Gay.  Tonty,  however,  in  his  memoir,  says 
that  the  expedition  was  confided  by  La  Salle  to  M.  Deau  or  Dacan,  (possibly 
Dacau,)  who  was  accompanied  by  a  Recollet  not  named. 


1680.]  ADVENTURES    OF    FRIAR    HENNEPIN.  201 

report  of  their  proceedings,  since  they  had  been  left  by  La  Salle 
at  Fort  Crevecoeur  in  March,  1680.  Their  men  soon  after  be 
came  mutinous,  and  a  number  of  them  deserted  and  returned  to 
Canada,  carrying  off  all  the  goods,  furs  and  provisions  which 
they  could  seize;  whereupon  the  Indians  exhibited  signs  of  enmi 
ty,  and  the  proselytes  made  by  the  missionaries  fell  off,  and  return 
ed  to  their  pagan  practices,  under  the  guidance  of  their  conjurors. 
The  country  was  moreover  invaded  by  a  large  body  of  Iroquois, 
who  drove  the  Illinois  across  the  Mississippi ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  hostilities,  the  poor  French  suffered  greatly  from  both  par 
ties,  neither  of  whom  could  be  induced  to  respect  their  neutrality. 
Tonty  and  his  companions  however,  escaped,  and  took  their  way 
to  Lake  Michigan,  before  reaching  which,  Father  Gabriel  was 
murdered  by  the  Kickapoos ;  on  the  lake  their  canoes  were 
swamped,  and  they  were  obliged  to  walk  through  the  snow, 
more  than  two  hundred  miles  to  the  Jesuit  mission  on  Green 
Bay,  from  which  they  came  in  the  spring  of  1681  to  Mackinac 
In  these  disastrous  occurrences,  more  than  a  year  had  been  lost ; 
and  La  Salle  conceiving  that  nothing  could  be  effected  towards 
the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  means  then  at  his  dis 
posal,  returned  with  the  whole  party  to  Fort  Frontenac. 

In  the  meantime,  Father  Louis  Hennepin  and  his  two  compan 
ions  had  performed,  in  part  at  least,  the  task  assigned  to  them  by 
La  Salle.  They  left  Fort  Crevecoeur  in  a  canoe  in  the  end  of 
February,  1680,  and  went  down  the  Illinois  to  its  junction  with 
the  Mississippi,  from  which  they  ascended  the  latter  river  and 
some  of  its  branches,  as  far  north  as  the  47th  parallel,  though 
they  failed  to  reach  its  sources.  Under  the  45th  degree  they 
found  the  falls  of  the  Mississippi,  named  by  Hennepin  in  honor 
of  his  patron,  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  near  which 
they  encountered  a  band  of  Indians  of  the  famous  Dahcota 
nation,  called  Issati  and  Nadoessioux  by  the  friar,  and  since 
more  commonly  known  as  the  Sioux,  inhabiting  the  regions  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  for  some  distance  above  and  below  the 
falls.  In  this  country,  they  met  a  party  of  French  traders,  under 
the  direction  of  M.  du  Luth,  and  proceeded  with  them,  by  way 
of  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  rivers  and  Green  Bay,  to  Mackinac, 
where  they  arrived  in  November,  shortly  after  the  departure  of 
La  Salle  for  the  Miami,  on  his  return  from  Frontenac  to  Crevecoeur. 
26 


202  SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    LA    SALLE.  [1681. 

At  Mackinac,  Hennepin  found  forty-two  French  traders,  with 
whom  he  passed  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring  of  1681,  he 
reached  Quebec,  where  he  was  received  with  joy  by  his  breth 
ren,  as  one  risen  from  the  dead;  a  report  having  been  previously 
current  in  Canada,  that  he  had  been  hanged  by  the  Indians  on 
the  Mississippi,  with  his  own  cord  of  St.  Francis.  When  his 
garments  had  been  renewed,  and  his  health  re-established,  he 
sailed  for  France,  without  seeing  or  communicating  with  La  Salle. 

From  this  account  of  his  expedition  it  will  be  seen,  that  Hen 
nepin  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  discoverer  of  the  portion  of  Amer 
ica  traversed  by  the  Mississippi,  between  the  43d  degree  of  lati 
tude,  in  which  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  is  situated,  and  the 
47th ;  the  portion  extending  southward  from  the  Wisconsin  to 
the  Arkansas,  having  been  previously  examined  by  Joliet  and 
Marquette.  The  worthy  friar  however,  in  the  narrative  published 
by  him  soon  after  his  return  to  France,  claimed  the  whole  merit  of 
the  first  discovery  of  the  vast  region  of  the  Mississippi,  above  the 
Illinois,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Louisiana  in  honor  of  his 
sovereign  ;  and  at  a  later  period,  he  did  not  scruple  to  assert,  that 
he  had  also  in  1680  first  descended  the  great  river  to  its  mouth. 

To  return  to  La  Salle.  In  his  first  expedition  towards  the 
Mississippi,  he  seems  to  have  contemplated  the  immediate  forma 
tion  of  an  establishment  of  some  kind,  on  the  lower  part  of  that 
stream,  or  the  prosecution  of  the  discovery  beyond  it,  to  the 
Spanish  provinces.  After  the  entire  failure  of  that  enterprise,  the 
expenses  of  which  had  ruined  his  fortune,  he  was  only  able,  with 
the  aid  of  Count  de  Frontenac,  to  obtain  the  means  of  exploring 
the  great  river  to  its  mouth,  and  this  he  undertook,  on  the  as 
surance  that  in  case  of  his  success,  assistance  would  be  afforded 
by  the  government,  in  carrying  out  his  ulterior  schemes. 

With  this  object  La  Salle  engaged  twenty-three  Frenchmen  and 
eighteen  Indians,  all  selected  with  care  ;  and  he  moreover  allowed 
ten  of  the  latter  to  take  their  wives  and  some  children,  making 

'  O 

in  all  fifty-four  grown  persons,  including  the  commander,  Tonty, 
and  Father  Zenobe.  In  the  beginning  of  January,  1682,  this 
party  was  assembled  at  the  mouth  of  the  "divine  river  Chicago,"* 

*  So  called  by  Father  Zenobe  in  the  "  Etablissement  de  la  Foy;*'  vol.  2,  page 
214.  According  to  our  Indian  etymologists,  Chicago  signifies  a  place  abounding 
(as  that  part  of  the  coast  of  Lake  Michigan  really  does,)  in  wild  leeks;  Chicag 
is  the  name  of  that  savoury  animal  the  Mephitis  putorius  or  Skunk. 


1682.]  LA     SALLE    ON    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  203 

where  the  important  commercial  city  of  Chicago  now  stands; 
thence  they  passed  over  land  to  the  Illinois  or  Seignelaye,  and 
decending  that  river  on  the  ice  to  Fort  Crevecceur,  they  there 
constructed  canoes  for  their*  farther  transportation. 

Taking  their  departure  from  Fort  Crevecceur  in  the  beginning 
of  February,  the  French  on  the  6th  of  that  month  passed  through 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  into  the  Mississippi,  or  Colbert  as  it 
had  been  named  by  La  Salle;  and  after  a  detention  of  some  days 
at  that  place,  they  on  the  13th  encountered  the  yellow  floods  of  the 
Missouri,  (called  River  of  the  Osages,  in  the  accounts  of  the  expe 
dition,)  of  which  they  had  no  previous  knowledge.  On  the  18th 
they  stopped  to  hunt,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ouabouskigou  or  Oua- 
bache,  now  the  Ohio,  to  which  was  assigned  the  venerated  name 
of  St.  Louis;  and  on  the  24th,  their  canoes  were  drawn  up,  near 
the  high  banks  overhanging  the  Mississippi  on  the  east,  now 
known  as  the  Chickasa  bluffs,  near  Memphis  in  Tennessee. 
There  one  of  their  hunters  not  returning  in  time,  they  sent  out  a 
party  in  search  of  him;  and  the  others  as  a  precaution  against 
surprise,  erected  a  stockade,  which  they  called  Fort  Prudhomme, 
after  their  missing  companion. 

The  party  sent  in  search  of  Prudhomme,  soon  met  some  Chick 
asa  Indians,  who  were  anxious  that  the  French  should  visit  one 
of  their  towns  in  the  interior:  this  was  however  declined,  in  con 
sequence  of  some  mistrust  excited  by  the  varying  statements  of 
the  natives;  and  the  lost  hunter  being  recovered,  the  French  re 
sumed  their  voyage  down  the  Great  River,  early  in  March.  On 
the  13th  of  that  month,  they  spent  the  day  on  the  west  bank, 
among  the  Capaha  or  Kappa  Indians,  mentioned  in  the  accounts 
of  Soto's  expedition ;  and  twenty  leagues  below  they  passed  the 
x-illages  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  which  formed  the  southern 
limit  of  the  discoveries  of  Joliet  and  Marquette.  There  they  first 
saw  alligators,  which  increased  in  number  and  size  as  they  went 
farther  south.  Continuing  their  course,  they  on  the  20th  reached 
the  chief  town  of  the  Taensas,  a  small  nation  inhabiting  the  west 
side  of  the  river;  and  on  the  following  day,  they  stopped  at  the 
great  village  of  the  Natchez,  situated  on  a  height  which  over 
hangs  the  Mississippi  on  the  east.  These  two  nations  were 
found  to  be  superior  in  intelligence,  and  to  exhibit  more  inge 
nuity  in  the  construction  of  their  buildings  and  utensils,  and  in 


204  LA   SALLE  REACHES  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  [1682. 

the  cultivation  of  their  lands,  than  any  Indians  whom  the  French 
had  previously  seen  in  America;  whilst  they  were,  on  the  other 
hand,  more  sensual  and  ferocious  in  their  dispositions  and  cus 
toms  than  any  other  people.  They  *erected  cabins  of  logs  and 
earth,  covered  with  wicker  work,  in  the  largest  of  which  the  bones 
of  their  chiefs  were  deposited  and  a  fire  was  said  to  be  kept  con 
stantly  burning,  in  honor  of  their  great  deity  the  Sun.  These 
and  other  peculiarities  of  the  Taensas  and  the  Natches,  together 
with  the  positions  of  their  territories,  are  sufficient  to  establish 
their  identity  with  the  Guachoyans  and  Quigaltans,  visited  by  the 
Spaniards  under  Hernando  de  Soto  in  1542  ;  and  there  is  little 
reason  to  doubt,  that  this  commander  died  at  the  chief  town  of 
the  Taensas,  on  the  borders  of  a  small  lake  now  called  St.  Jo 
seph's  lake,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi,  nearly  oppo 
site  to  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Black  river. 

The  French  took  leave  of  the  Natches  on  Good  Friday,  and 
two  days  afterwards,  they  encamped  at  the  mouth  of  a^  large 
stream  joining  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  to  which  La  Salle 
transferred  the  name  of  Seignelaye,  first  assigned  by  him  to  the 
Illinois;  it  was  of  course  the  Red  river.  At  a  short  distance  be 
low,  he  observed  a  great  outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  same 
side,  which  may  have  been  the  Atchafalaya,  now  entering  the 
Red  river  near  its  mouth ;  as  the  latter  stream  probably  at  one 
"time  joined  the  Great  Water,  higher  up  than  at  present.  Con 
tinuing  their  course  downward,  they  passed  the  towns  of  the 
Houma  or  Red  men,  near  the  site  of  Baton  Rouge  ;  and  farther  on, 
those  of  the  Quinipissa  or  Colapissa,  who  came  out  in  large  num 
bers  in  canoes,  armed  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  white  men. 
The  French  however  avoided  the  encounter  by  keeping  close  to 
the  opposite  bank  ;  and  on  the  5th  of  April,  they  reached  the 
place,  where  the  Mississippi  is  divided  into  three  great  channels, 
about  ninety  miles  below  the  spot  now  occupied  by  New  Orleans. 

Each  of  these  channels  was  explored  to  its  termination  in  the 
sea,  by  a  separate  party  of  the  French  ;  La  Salle  taking  the  west 
ern,  Tonty  the  middle  or  main  passage,  and  D'Autray  the  other 
towards  the  east :  they  were  all  found  wide  and  deep ;  and  La 
Salle  on  reaching  the  Gulf,  observed  the  altitude  of  the  sun  with 
an  instrument,  rudely  constructed  by  himself.  From  this  obser 
vation  he  estimated  the  latitude  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 


1682.]  LA    SALLE    TAKES    POSSESSION    OF    LOUISIANA.       205 

at  about  twenty-seven  and  a  half  degrees,  which  was  about  a  de 
gree  and  a  half  too  low,  or  too  far  south  ;  and  on  comparing  this 
supposed  position,  with  those  of  other  places  laid  down  on  the 
maps  of  that  time,  he  considered  it  as  situated  twenty  leagues 
south-west  from  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  thirty  leagues  from  the 
Rio  Bravo,  sixty  from  the  Rio  de  Palmas,  and  one  hundred  from 
Panuco.  La  Salle  thus  believed  the  Mississippi  to  enter  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  riot  far  from  the  actual  entrance  to  Galveston  Bay; 
an  error  which  perhaps  contributed  to  the  unfortunate  result  of 
his  subsequent  expedition  to  that  Gulf. 

Reascending  the  channels,  the  whole  party  were  again  assem 
bled  at  the  point  of  their  separation,  on  the  9th  of  April,  when  La 
Salle,  standing  in  the  midst,  proclaimed  aloud  the  supremacy  of 
thogreat  monarch  Louis  XIV.  and  his  successors,  over  the  whole 
of  Louisiana,  from  the  St.  Louis,  otherwise  called  Ohio,  Alighin- 
sipou,  or  Chukagou,  along  the  great  river  Colbert  or  Mississippi 
to  its  mouth,  with  all  the  adjoining  lands,  streams  and  seas  as  far 
south  as  the  River  of  Palms;  protesting  against  all  who  might 
thereafter  attempt  to  encroach  upon  any  of  those  territories  or 
waters,  which  had  been  first  discovered  and  first  possessed,  in  the 
name  of  His  Christian  Majesty,  with  the  consent  of  all  the  na 
tions  found  dwelling  therein.  A  cross  was  then  erected  on  the  spot, 
before  which  a  mass  was  said;  guns  were  fired  in  honor  of  the 
occasion,  and  a  column,  was  planted,  at  the  foot  of  which  a  leaden 
plate  was  buried,  bearing  an  inscription  commemorative  of  the 
discovery  and  possession.  A  proces-verbal*  or  official  statement 
of  the  principal  occurrences  of  the  expedition,  drawn  up  by  the 
Notary  La  Metairie,  was  finally  signed  by  La  Salle,  and  eleven 
others  of  the  party ;  after  which,  they  begun  their  return  to 
Canada  by  the  same  route.  The  ascent  of  the  Mississippi  was 

*This  curious  document  is  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine  De 
partment  at  Paris  ;  a  translation  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  appendix  to  Mr. 
Spark's  Life  of  La  Salle,  in  the  llth  volume  of  the  Library  of  American  Biogra 
phy.  The  account  of  the  occurrences  of  the  expedition  is  much  less  detailed, 
and  less  valuable  in  almost  every  respect,  than  that  presented  by  Tonty,  in  his 
Memoir  addressed  to  the  French  government  in  1692,  already  noticed  at  page 
197;  and  it  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  discovery 
of  the  Red  river,  or  of  any  other  occurrences  between  the  date  of  the  arrival  of 
the  French  at  Natches,  and  that  of  their  passing  the  Houma  towns.  The  paper 
is  nevertheless  important,  as  establishing  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  La  Salle,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  which  had  been  usually  placed,  in  the  year  1G83. 


206  LA    SALLE    RETURNS    TO    THE    ILLINOIS.  [1682. 

of  course  much  more  laborious  than  the  voyage  down;  and  they 
were  often  in  want  of  food,  in  consequence  of  the  enmity  of  the 
nations  on  the  banks,  who  would  neither  supply  them,  nor  allow 
them  to  hunt  in  safety.  They  were  obliged  to  fight  the  Quini- 
pissas,  of  whom  they  killed  several;  and  the  "Natchez  had  made 
preparations  to  destroy  them,  but  abandoned  the  design,  on  seeing 
the  scalps  of  the  Quinipissas,  which  La  Salle  generously  presented 
to  them.  At  length,  in  the  beginning  of  May,  they  arrived  at 
Fort  Prudhomme,  on  the  Chickasa  Bluffs,  where  La  Salle  was 
seized  with  a  fever,  which  detained  him  several  months  :  he  had 
however  sent  Tonty  forward,  with  letters  to  Count  de  Frontenac ; 
and  he  subsequently  despatched  Father  Zenobe  by  way  of  Canada, 
to  bear  the  news  of  the  discoveries  to  the  government  at  Paris. 

On  the  arrival  of  Father  Zenobe  at  Quebec,  he  learned  {hat 
Count  de  Frontenac  had  been  deprived  of  the  government  of 
New  France,  in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  M.  de  la  Barre;  and 
Frontenac  having  offered  him  a  passage  in  the  ship,  in  which  he 
was  about  to  sail  for  France,  he  deposited  a  copy  of  his  journal 
in  the  convent  of  his  order,  and  departed  for  Europe,  where  he 
was  enabled  to  communicate  the  particulars  of  La  Salle's  expe 
dition  to  the  minister  Colbert,  before  the  end  of  the  year.* 

Tonty  went  no  farther  than  Mackinac,  where  he  was  joined  by 
La  Salle  in  September.  There  they  were  informed  of  the  re 
moval  of  Count  de  Frontenac  from  the  government  of  New 
France ;  and  La  Salle,  having  reason  to  believe  M.  de  la  Barre 
inimical  to  his  views,  returned  with  all  his  people  to  the  Illinois 
river  and  established  a  fort  called  St.  Louis,  on  the  summit  of  a 
high  rockf  overhanging  that  stream  near  its  rapids,  which  he  had 
observed  in  the  course  of  his  journey  from  Fort  Crevecoeurto  Lake 
Erie  in  1680.  At  this  place,  he  remained  until  September 

*  This  journal  was  fortunately  published  by  Le  Clercq,  in  his  "  Etablissement 
de  la  Foy"  at  Paris  in  1681,  and  forms  the  principal  source  of  information  with 
regard  to  the  second  expedition  of  La  Salle  in  the  Mississippi  countries. 

f  This  place  is  now  called  the  Starved  Rock,  from  some  tradition  respecting  a 
party  of  Indians  beseiged  on  it  by  their  enemies,  and  reduced  to  the  last  extrem 
ity  of  famine,  before  their  strong  hold  could  betaken.  It  is  one  of  a  line  of  sand 
stone  clifl's,  rising  from  the  Illinois  on  its  left  bank,  about  a  mile  above  the  en 
trance  of  the  Vermillion  river,  thirty  miles  below  the  town  of  Ottawa,  where 
the  two  great  branches  of  the  Illinois  unite,  and  270  miles  from  the  junction  of 
the  latter  with  the  Mississippi. 


1683.]     FIRST  SETTLEMENT  IN  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY.         207 

1683,  engaged  in  forming  a  settlement,  and  collecting  the  In 
dians  around  it,  in  the  manner  usually  pursued  by  the  French, 
with  the  object  of  securing  the  possession  of  the  lands  and  privi 
leges,  which  would  extend,  agreeably  to  his  charter,  only  to  such 
establishments  as  he  might  have  founded  anterior  to  the  12th  of 
May  of  that  year.  He  then  departed  for  Quebec,  leaving  Tonty  in 
command  of  the  fort ;  and  on  his  way,  he  met  an  officer  sent  by 
the  Governor  to  summon  him  to  repair  to  that  capital.  What 
passed  between  him  and  M.  de  la  Barre  is  not  known :  La  Salle 
however  certainly  received  assurances  from  the  Governor,  and 
from  the  Intendant  de  Meulles,  that  his  rights  and  privileges  in 
the  Illinois,  as  well  as  at  Fort  Frontenac,  would  be  respected, 
and  that  recommendations  in  favor  of  the  preservation  and  in 
crease  of  those  settlements  would  be  addressed  to  the  ministers; 
and  confiding  in  these  promises,  he  immediately  embarked  for 
France,  where  he  arrived,  at  Rochelle  on  the  13th  of  December. 

Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois,  was  the  first  spot  occupied  by 
civilized  persons,  with  a  view  to  a  permanent  establishment,  in 
the  whole  division  of  America  drained  by  the  Mississippi ;  and 
it  continued  to  be  the  only  post  in  those  regions,  until  the 
close  of  the  century,  when  it  was  abandoned.  In  the  year  of  its 
establishment,  1683,  the  city  of  Philadelphia  was  founded  by 
William  Penn,  as  the  capital  of  his  province  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  had  been  granted  to  him  in  the  previous  year  by  Charles 
II.,  extending  westward  from  the  Delaware  river,  through  five 
degrees  of  longitude,  between  Maryland  on  the  south,  and  the 
forty-third  parallel  of  latitude  on  the  north.  The  English  colo 
nies  had  continued  to  increase,  though  they  were  nearly  all 
afflicted  by  wars  with  the  Indians,  or  by  internal  disturbances, 
during  the  period  in  which  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  coun 
tries  was  in  progress.  The  attempts  of  Frontenac  to  extend  the 
dominion  of  France  over  the  Iroquois  regions,  served  only  to 
render  the  Five  Nations  more  inimical  to  the  French,  and  more 
dependant  on  the  English,  who  supplied  them  with  merchandise 
of  all  kinds,  and  particularly  with  arms  and  ammunition,  on 
terms  much  better  than  those  offered  by  the  other  party. 

The  Spaniards  at  this  period  were  suffering  severely  from  the 
incessant  attacks  on  their  commerce  in  the  West  Indies  by  the 
English  and  French  bucaniers,  whom  no  measures  on  the  part 


208  NEW    MEXICO    RAVAGED    BY    INDIANS.  [1683. 

of  their  own  governments  could  restrain.  Campeachy,  Chagres, 
Maracaibo,  Laguaira,  and  many  other  places  on  those  coasts  as 
well  as  on  the  Pacific  side  of  the  continent,  were  plundered  by 
these  daring  miscreants;  and  even  Vera  Cruz,  notwithstanding 
its  strong  castle  and  other  fortifications,  was  surprised  and  sacked 
in  1683  by  two  vessels,  under  the  command  of  the  noted  Van 
Home  and  Laurent  de  Grave,  who  carried  off  property  to  the 
value  of  several  millions  of  dollars.  Scarcely  less  injurious  to  the 
Spanish  supremacy  were  the  contraband  operations  of  the  Eng 
lish,  for  which  their  establishment  in  Jamaica  afforded  every  fa 
cility;  and  the  losses  thus  occasioned  together  with  the  enor 
mous  expenses  of  convoys,  fortifications,  garrisons,  and  guarda- 
costas  or  cruising  vessels  for  the  protection  of  the  coasts,  ren 
dered  his  West  Indian  dominions  of  little  value  to  the  Catholic 
monarch. 

The  Spanish  settlements  founded  in  New  Mexico  on  the  Rio 
del  Norte,  or  upper  branch  of  the  Rio  Bravo,  in  the  latter  years 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  as  already  related,  though  cut  off  from 
all  other  civilized  countries  by  a  wide  expanse  of  desert,  had 
flourished  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  and  contained  several  large 
towns,  from  which  considerable  amounts  of  precious  metals  were 
annually  sent  to  Mexico.  In  the  summer  of  1680,  however, 
symptoms  of  hostile  feelings  were  observed  among  the  Indians 
of  the  surrounding  territories,  and  the  governor,  Otermin,  pre 
pared  for  defence,  by  arming  the  Spanish  population,  and  forti 
fying  the  principal  places.  This  seems  to  have  served  only  to 
quicken  the  movements  of  the  savages,  vast  hordes  of  whom 
poured  into  the  settled  districts,  in  the  month  of  August  of  that 
year,  and  the  \fhole  province  was  soon  desolated,  and  its  inhabi 
tants  destroyed,  or  forced  to  fly  towards  the  south.  The  Mar 
quis  de  la  Laguna,  Viceroy  of  New  Spain,  on  receiving  news  of 
these  disasters,  despatched  a  small  force  to  New  Mexico,  under 
Juan  de  Vargas  de  Luxan,  \vho  for  some  time  endeavored  to  re 
store  the  country  to  its  former  occupants ;  but  he  could  only  suc 
ceed  in  reconquering  the  southern  portion,  where  the  town  of 
Paso  del  Norte  was  founded  by  the  fugitives,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  river,  about  three  hundred  miles  below  the  former  capital, 
Santa  Fe.  The  upper  countries  were  subsequently  recovered; 
but  the  province  never  regained  its  prosperity. 


1683.]         LA  SALLE'S  DISCOVERIES  UNIMPORTANT.  209 

In  the  sketch  presented  in  this  chapter  of  the  re-discovery  and 
exploration  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  French,  it  has  been  impos 
sible  to  portray  the  innumerable  difficulties,  dangers  and  em 
barrassments  to  which  those  engaged  in  it  were  exposed;  nor 
indeed  is  it  easy  to  estimate  them  fully,  even  with  the  aid  of  the 
original  narratives,  at  the  present  day,  when  the  whole  journey 
of  more  than  three  thousand  miles,  from  the  outlet  of  Lake  On 
tario  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  may  be  accomplished  in 
less  time  than  was  spent  at  that  period  on  the  way  from  Frontenac 
to  Niagara.  With  regard  to  La  Salle,  under  the  disheartening  con 
trarieties  and  crosses  to  which  he  was  subjected,  he  displayed 
great  courage,  skill  and  constancy:  but  in  reviewing  the  results  of 
his  labors,  strict  justice  requires  the  admission,  that  he  visited  no 
part  of  the  Mississippi  regions  which  had  not  been  previously 
seen  and  described  by  the  followers  of  Hernando  de  Soto,  or  by 
Joliet  and  Marquette;  and  that  he  only  verified  the  discoveries 
made  a  hundred  and  forty  years  before  by  the  Spaniards,  which 
would  no  doubt  have  been  otherwise  soon  done,  either  by  his 
own  countrymen  or  by  the  English. 

The  merit  of  re-discovering  the  great  river  of  North  America, 
should  in  justice  be  assigned  to  Joliet  and  Marquette,  and  to  the 
Intendant  Talon,  by  whom  their  expedition  was  suggested.  The 
additions  made  by  La  Salle  to  the  knowledge  of  the  geography 
of  those  regions,  were  in  fact  few  and  unimportant.  To  have 
traced  the  Mississippi  from  the  Arkansas  to  the  gulf,  was  of  no 
consequence,  so  long  as  the  exact  position  of  its  mouth  remained 
undetermined;  and  on  this  latter  point,  La  Salle  is  certainly 
amenable  to  the  charge  of  want  of  enterprise.  Deficiency  of 
food  and  apprehensions  of  attack  from  the  Spaniards,  are  stated 
as  the  reasons  which  induced  him  to  return  up  the  river,  without 
examining  the  coasts  near  its  entrance;  but  such  reasons  would 
not  have  prevailed  with  Orellana,  Pizarro  or  Soto,  or  in  our 
days,  with  Lewis,  Clarke,  Franklin,  Ross,  Back  or  Lander,  or 
with  many  others  whose  names  will  not  long  survive  them. 

The  farther  proceedings  of  La  Salle  in  America,  will  be  related 
in  the  following  chapter. 


27 


CHAPTER    VII 


1684    TO     1690. 


EXPEDITION  OF  THE  FRENCH  UNDER  LA  SALLE  TO  THE  MEXI- 
.CAN  GULF — ESTABLISHMENT  OF  FORT  ST.  Louis   ON  THE 

NORTH-WEST  COAST  OF  THAT  SEA UNFORTUNATE  RESULTS 

OF  THE  ENTERPRISE — MURDER  OF  LA  SALLE  AND  ABANDON 
MENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY  BY  THE  FRENCH — FIRST  EXPEDITION 
OF  THE  SPANIARDS  INTO  TEXAS. 

WHEN  La  Salle  arrived  at  Paris  in  the  beginning  of  1684, 
Louis  XIV.  was  precisely  at  the  culminating  point  of  his  career; 
holding  all  the  other  nations  of  western  Europe  in  awe,  by  his 
armies,  his  fleets,  and  his  apparent  wealth,  which  rendered  him 
even  more  successful  in  negotiation  than  in  war:  and  the  title  of 
Great,  bestowed  on  him  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Parliament 
of  Paris  three  years  before,  might  have  seemed  at  the  time,  not 
to  be  undeserved.  The  encroachments  made  or  attempted  by 
him  on  the  territories  of  surrounding  nations,  had  united  all  those 
powers,  in  alliance  against  France;  and  he  was  in  a  state  of 
quasi  war  with  the  United  Provinces,  Spain,  Germany  and  Swe 
den.  Charles  II.  of  England,  though  burning  to  join  the  allies, 
was  too  fast  bound  in  the  golden  chains  of  the  French  monarch 
to  make  any  efforts  for  that  purpose ;  the  remaining  sovereigns 
were  all  so  weak,  and  so  little  in  accord  with  each  other,  that  they 
exhibited  evident  signs  of  anxiety  to  escape  from  the  contest. 

Under  these  circumstances,  a  plan  for  the  extension  of  French 
dominion  in  the  New  World,  was  likely  to  be  received  with 
favor;  and  La  Salle  had  devised  such  a  plan,  while  engaged 
in  his  peregrinations  through  the  Mississippi  countries.  In 
submitting  his  views  to  the  government,  he  had  to  encounter 
at  first,  greater  difficulties  than  he  anticipated.  His  patron  Col 
bert  had  died  in  September  previous;  and  the  Marquis  de  Seig- 
nelaye,  the  son  of  that  minister,  then  at  the  head  of  the  depart- 


1684.]  MEMORIALS    OF    LA    SALLE.  211 

ment  of  commerce  and  navigation,  through  which  his  proposi 
tions  must  pass,  had  been  prejudiced  against  him  by  the  repre 
sentations  of  the  Governor  of  Canada.  With  the  aid  of  the 
Count  de  Frontenac  however,  he  succeeded  in  conciliating  the 
Marquis,  who  could  not  but  have  been  flattered  by  the  high  com 
pliment  paid  to  his  family,  in  the  application  of  the  names  of 
Colbert  and  Seignelaye,  to  two  of  the  greatest  rivers*  of  the 
New  World;  and  through  his  agency  the  memorials  of  La  Salle, 
containing  the  outlines  of  the  scheme,  were  received,  and  recom 
mended  to  the  notice  of  the  sovereign. 

The  objects  of  this  scheme,  as  detailed  in  the  memorials  of 
La  Sallef,  were  simply  to  form  a  military  establishment  in  the 

*The  Mississippi  and  the  Red  river:  See  the  latter  part  of  the  following  note. 

f  The  two  memorials  of  La  Salle,  containing  the  particulars  of  this  scheme, 
are  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine  Department  of  Paris ;  translations 
from  them  have  been  made  by  Falconer,  and  published  with  his  work  on  the 
Discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken : — 

The  first  memorial  begins  thus : 

"  The  principal  result,  which  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  expected  from  the  great 
perils  and  labors,  undergone  by  him,  in  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  was  to 
satisfy  the  desire  expressed  by  the  late  M.  Colbert,  of  finding  a  port,  where  the 
French  might  establish  themselves,  and  harrass  the  Spaniards  in  those  regions, 
from  whence  they  derive  all  their  wealth.  The  place  which  he  proposes  to  for 
tify,  lies  sixty  leagues  above  the  entrance  of  the  river  Colbert,  (Mississippi)  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  possesses  all  the  advantages  for  such  a  purpose,  which 
could  be  desired ;  on  account  of  its  excellent  situation,  and  the  favorable  disposi 
tion  of  the  savages,  dwelling  in  that  part  of  the  country.  [The  distance  of  the 
place  thus  selected,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  indicates  its  position  as 
being  near  the  La  Fourche  outlet  of  that  river,  about  eighty  miles  above  New 
Orleans.]  The  right  of  the  king  to  this  territory,  is  the  common  right  of  all  na 
tions,  to  lands  which  they  have  discovered — a  right  which  cannot  be  disputed, 
after  the  possession  already  taken  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty  by  M.  de  la  Salle, 
with  the  consent  of  the  greater  number  of  its  inhabitants.  A  colony  might  easily 
be  founded  there  as  the  land  is  very  fertile,  &c." 

After  enumerating  the  nations  of  Indians  on  the  Mississippi,  of  whom  he  de 
clares  that  he  met  eighteen  thousand  assembled  in  a  single  camp,  he  conceives 
that— 

"  By  the  union  of  those  forces,  it  would  be  possible  to  form  an  army  of  more 
than  fifteen  thousand  savages,  who,  finding  themselves  supported  by  the  French 
and  the  Abenaki  followers  of  the  Sieur  la  Salle,  with  the  aid  of  the  arms  given 
to  them,  would  meet  no  resistance  in  the  province  which  he  intends  to  attack, 
where  there  are  not  more  than  four  hundred  native  Spaniards  in  a  country  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  in  length  and  fifty  in  breadth,  all  of  whom  are 
officers  or  artisans,  better  able  to  explore  mines,  than  to  oppose  vigorously  an 
expedition  which  would  be  moreover  favored  by  mulattoes,  Indians,  and  negroes, 
if  their  liberty  were  promised  to  them." 


212  PROJECTS    OF    LA    SALLE.  [1684. 

Mississippi  regions,  and  thence  to  invade  and  to  conquer  the  ad 
joining  northern  provinces  of  Mexico,  in  which  the  richest  mines 
of  silver  and  gold  were  supposed  to  be  situated.  For  the  first 
expedition  with  these  objects,  he  asked  only  that  a  vessel  of 
thirty  guns  with  her  crew  and  two  hundred  other  men,  and  a 
moderate  supply  of  arms,  ammunition  and  provisions,  should  be 
placed  at  his  disposition  for  a  year.  With  these  forces,  he  would 
sail  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  ascend  that  river,  to  a 
point  already  selected  by  him,  distant  sixty  leagues  from  the  Gulf, 
where  a  fortified  post  would  be  established ;  and  having  there 

La  Salle  then  proceeds  to  describe  the  Spanish  province  of  New  Biscay,  which 
he  proposed  to  invade ;  and  the  advantages  which  France  might  derive  from  its 
possession : 

"Assuming  then,"  he  continues,  "these  facts,  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  offers,  if 
the  war  should  continue,  to  leave  France  with  two  hundred  men;  fifty  more  will 
join  him  who  are  in  the  country,  [meaning  doubtless  those  with  Tonty  in  the 
Illinois,]  and  fifty  bucaniers  can  be  taken  in  on  the  way  at  St.  Domingo.  The 
savages  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  to  the  number  of  more  than  four  thousand  warriors, 
with  many  others  who  will  join,  can  be  directed  to  descend  the  river.  This 
army  he  will  divide  into  the  three  divisions,  so  that  it  may  be  more  easily 
subsisted.  In  order  to  compel  the  Spaniards  to  divide  their  forces,  two  of  these 
divisions  shall  be  each  composed  of  fifty  French,  fifty  Abenakis,  and  two  hundred 
savages.  They  will  receive  orders  to  attack  at  the  same  time  the  two  extremi 
ties  of  the  province,  and  on  the  same  day  the  middle  portion  of  the  country  will 
be  entered  by  the  other  division  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  we  shall  be  seconded  by 
all  the  unhappy  beings  who  there  groan  in  slavery.  *  * 

"  There  never  was  an  enterprise  of  such  great  importance,  proposed  at  so  little 
risk  and  expense ;  since  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  asks  for  its  execution,  only  a  vessel 
of  about  thirty  guns,  the  power  of  raising  in  France  two  hundred  men,  whom  he 
may  select  for  the  purpose,  and  exclusive  of  the  equipments  of  the  vessel,  provi 
sions  for  six  months,  and  the  means  of  payment  to  the  men  for  a  year.  *  *  * 

"  It  would  not  require  much  time  to  bring  this  expedition  to  an  end,  since  it  is 
nearly  certain  that  the  savages  could  be  assembled  next  winter,  and  the  conquest 
be  completed  in  the  spring,  in  sufficient  time  to  report  the  news  of  it  by  the  re 
turn  of  the  first  vessel  to  France." 

The  principal  body  of  the  invading  forces  was  to  be  directed  against  New  Bis 
cay,  by  way  of  the  Seignelaye,  which  name  is  assigned  by  La  Salle  to  the  Red 
river,  and  not  to  the  Illinois,  as  will  be  seen  in  many  parts  of  the  memorial,  and 
especially  in  the  following  extract : 

"  It  may  be  objected,  that  the  Seignelaye  is  perhaps  more  distant  from  New 
Biscay,  than  has  been  assumed.  To  answer  this  difficulty,  it  is  sufficient  to  men 
tion,  that  the  mouth  through  which  it  enters  the  Mississippi  is  one  hundred 
leagues  west  north-west  from  the  place  where  the  latter  river  discharges  itself 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  that  it  has  been  ascended  more  than  sixty  leagues 
going  always  to  the  west."  This  description  could  apply  to  none  other  than  the 
Red  river,  which  La  Salle  might  have  caused  to  be  explored,  on  his  way  up  the 
Mississippi. 


1684.]  VIEWS    OF    LA     SALLE    EXTRAVAGANT.  213 

collected  a  sufficient  number  of  Indians,  and  if*  necessary  some 
bucaniers  from  St.  Domingo,  he  would  proceed  by  way  of  the 
Red  river,  to  the  northernmost  Spanish  province  of  New  Biscay, 
which  he  did  not  doubt  would  prove  an  easy  conquest,  as  he  was 
satisfied  that  it  then  contained  only  four  hundred  Spaniards,  and 
that  the  aborigines  would  readily  join  the  invaders.  France 
would  thus  become  possessed  of  the  mines,  from  which  Spain 
annually  imported  six  millions  of  crowns,  and  perhaps  also  of  a 
means  of  communication  with  the  Pacific,  securing  to  her  the 
monopoly  of  the  India  and  China  trades.  Should  peace  be  made 
with  Spain  before  the  completion  of  this  conquest,  the  colony  es 
tablished  in  Louisiana  would  of  itself  prove  important,  politically 
as  well  as  financially;  and  would  afford  the  means  of  effecting 
the  other  objects  with  facility,  whensoever  war  might  again  occur 
with  that  nation. 

These  propositions  of  La  Salle,  shew  that  his  eagerness  to  ac 
quire  wealth  and  renown  had  overcome  his  habitual  prudence 
and  cautiousness.  With  a  force  scarcely  sufficient  to  establish 
and  maintain  the  smallest  settlement,  or  to  secure  a  single  point 
against  attack  by  regular  troops,  he  offered  not  only  to  occupy 
the  Mississippi,  and  defend  it  against  intrusion  by  other  nations, 
but  also  to  conquer  a  vast  and  valuable  territory  inhabited  by  the 
subjects  of  a  powerful  European  sovereign,  who,  moreover,  pos 
sessed  extensive  and  populous  countries  immediately  contiguous. 
So  confident  did  he  appear  of  the  speedy  and  successful  issue  of 
his  plans,  that  he  conceived  it  necessary  in  his  memorials,  to 
provide  against  the  objections  which  might  be  raised,  on  the 
ground  that  the  attractions  presented  in  the  regions  to  be  thus 
brought  under  the  dominion  of  France,  might  be  so  great,  as  to 
lead  to  the  depopulation,  not  only  of  Canada,  but  also  of  the 
mother  country. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  La  Salle  could  really  have  enter 
tained  schemes  so  extravagant;  and  it  seems  reasonable  to  sus 
pect,  that  they  may  have  been  presented  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  engaging  the  attention  of  the  ardent  and  superficial  Seignelaye, 
and  securing  his  aid  for  the  prosecution  of  other  and  more  feasible 
designs.  La  Salle  had  been  for  nine  years  a  Jesuit;  and  on 
throwing  off  the  robe  of  that  order,  he  had  not  divested  himself 
of  the  systematic  reserve,  and  constant  watchfulness  to  conceal 


214  LA    SALLE    MEETS    HENNEPIN    AT    PARIS.  [1684. 

his  views,  which  he  had  so  long  practised.  Yet  the  history  of 
his  operations  in  America,  shows  that  his  mind  was  ever  turned 
towards  Mexico  and  the  Indies;  and  that  all  his  labors  on  the 
Mississippi,  were  undertaken  with  the  sole  object  of  opening  a 
route  to  those  regions  where  his  sanguine  disposition  led  him  to 
hope  that  he  might  enact  the  part  of  Cortes  or  Albuquerque. 
His  plans  were  nevertheless  approved,  in  part,  at  least,  by  his 
government;  and  preparations  were  immediately  commenced  at 
Rochefort,  under  his  directions,  for  the  equipment  of  a  force, 
larger  in  some  respects,  even  than  he  had  demanded. 

At  Paris,  La  Salle  in  the  meantime,  met  Father  Hennepin, 
whom  he  had  not  seen  since  their  separation  at  Fort  Crevecceur 
in  February,  1681.  The  Friar  had  in  1683  published  his  journal 
of  the  expedition  to  the  Mississippi,  which  was  very  annoying  to 
La  Salle,  as  it  made  known  a  portion  of  his  discoveries  and 
plans ;  and  he  was  probably  also  irritated  by  the  undue  preten 
sions  of  Hennepin  to  a  large  share  of  the  merit  of  the  enterprise. 
Of  what  passed  between  them,  the  particulars  are  not  known  ; 
but  Hennepin  became  thenceforth  the  bitter  enemy  of  La  Salle, 
whose  character  he  endeavored  to  blacken  by  falsehoods,  in 
works  published  by  him  many  years  after.* 

*  Hennepin's  second  work  published  in  1697,  under  the  title  of  "Nouvelle  de- 
couverte  d'un  pays  plus  grand  que  1'Europe,"  "A  new  discovery  of  a  country 
larger  than  Europe,"  is  merely  his  first  work,  interlarded  with  falsehoods,  incon 
sistencies,  and  impertinence.  In  it,  the  Friar  pretends,  that  he  explored  the 
whole  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  sources  to  the  sea  in  1680 ;  and  that  though  he 
had  "  from  modesty,"  suppressed  all  notice  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  great 
river,  in  his  first  narrative,  M.  de  la  Salle  had  become  his  mortal  enemy  from 
the  moment  when  he  learned  that  he  had  thus  been  anticipated  in  the  discovery. 
"  This,"  writes  Hennepin,  "  is  the  true  cause  of  his  malice  against  me,  and  of 
the  barbarous  usage  which  I  underwent  in  France,  and  which  was  carried  so  far, 
that  the  Marquis  de  Louvois,  was  persuaded  to  command  me  to  depart  from  the 
French  king's  dominions;  which  I  did  willingly,  though  I  had  reason  to  believe, 
that  this  order  was  forged  after  the  death  of  M.  de  Louvois.  The  pretended 
reasons  of  that  violent  order  were,  that  I  had  refused  to  return  to  America, 
where  I  had  been  already  eleven  years,  &c." 

The  eleven  years  here  mentioned,  by  the  veracious  Friar,  as  the  term  of  his 
residence  in  the  New  World,  were  however  all  comprised  according  to  his  own 
statement  between  1678  and  1682.  La  Salle  could  scarcely  have  had  much 
agency  in  the  banishment  of  Hennepin,  if  it  took  place  about  the  time  of  the 
death  of  Louvois,  which  did  not  occur  until  1691,  when  La  Salle  had  been  long 
dead  and  still  longer  forgotten  by  the  French  minister.  More  will  be  said  of 
these  works  of  Hennepin  in  the  following  chapter. 


1672.]  PREPARATIONS    FOR    THE    EXPEDITION.  215 

La  Salle  having  at  length  completed  his  business  at  Paris,  set 
out  for  Rochefort,  where  he  arrived  on  the  28th  of  May.  He  there 
found  nearly  prepared  for  his  expedition,  the  barque  La  Belle, 
carrying  six  guns,  which  had  been  presented  to  him  by  the  king, 
and  the  brig  1'Aimable  and  schooner  St.  Francois,  chartered  for 
the  transportation  of  the  people  and  materials  :  and  these  vessels 
were  to  be  convoyed  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  by  the 
frigate  Le  Joly,  of  thirty- six  guns,  under  the  command  of  the 
Chevalier  de  Beaujeu.  Agents  were  at  the  same  time  employed 
at  Paris,  Rouen  and  other  places,  to  enlist  persons  as  soldiers 
and  settlers;  and  they  were  enjoined  by  La  Salle,  to  admit  none 
but  those  of  good  character,  in  either  capacity,  and  especially  to 
see,  that  among  them,  should  be  a  large  porportion  of  mechanics 
of  the  different  branches  required  in  the  colony.  As  his  lieuten 
ant,  he  had  chosen  M.  Joutel,  an  officer  of  considerable  experi 
ence,  who  had  been  recommended  to  him  by  his  friends  in  Rouen ; 
and  his  old  companion  Father  Zenobe,  was  to  accompany  him 
as  chief  of  the  ecclesiastical  corps  in  virtue  of  a  brief  obtained 
from  the  Pope :  two  other  Recollets,  Fathers  Maxime  le  Clercq 
and  Anastase  de  Douay,  and  three  secular  priests,  namely  Cave- 
lier,  the  brother  of  La  Salle,  Chefdeville  his  relation,  and  Majulle, 
forming  the  remainder  of  that  body.* 

Whilst  these  preparations  were  in  progress  at  Rochefort,  the 
dispute  between  France  and  Spain  was  unexpectedly  brought  to 
a  conclusion,  by  a  truce  for  twenty  years,  signed  at  Ratisbon  on 
the  10th  of  June.  By  this  event,  the  principal  object  of  the  en- 

*  The  evidence  respecting  this  expedition  of  the  French  under  La  Salle  to  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  is  derived  from  the  original  narratives  of  Joutel  and  Father 
Anastase,  to  which  Charlevoix  and  Tonty,  have  added  some  particulars,  obtained 
from  other  sources.  The  accounts  of  Father  Anastase  are  given  in  his  own 
words  by  le  Clercq  in  his  "  Etablissement  du  Foy," chapter  24th,  (for  a  notice  of 
which  see  page  197.)  Joutel  furnished  the  materials,  from  which  a  M.  Michel 
composed  the  work  'under  his  name,  entitled  "  Journal  Historique  du  denier 
voyage  de  M.  de  la  Salle,"  published  at  Paris  in  1713,  when  the  grant  of  Louisi 
ana  to  Crozat  began  to  attract  attention  to  that  part  of  America.  The  two  ac 
counts  agree  in  general ;  they  were  both  written  from  recollection,  and  Joutel 
had  the  advantage  of  consulting  the  narrative  of  Father  Anastase,  which  had 
been  long  before  published.  Joutel  however  complained  to  Charlevoix,  that  the 
composer  of  his  narrative  had  misrepresented  his  statements  on  many  points. 
The  history  of  the  expedition  given  by  Hennepin,  in  his  third  work,  printed  in 
1697,  under  the  title  of  "Nouveau  voyage  d'un  pays  plus  grand  que  PEurope,"  is 
derived  from  Father  Anastase  and  Tonty,  and  is  filled  with  errors. 


216  POWERS    GRANTED    TO    LA    SALLE.  [1684. 

terprise  was  of  course  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  its  projector;  as 
no  attack*  could  be  legally  made  on  the  recognized  possessions 
of  Spain,  and  the  expedition  must  be  limited,  for  a  time  at  least 
to  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  unoccupied  countries,  and  the 
opening  of  new  channels  of  communication  with  the  Pacific. 
This  was  doubtless  a  severe  disappointment  to  La  Salle  :  no 
change,  however,  seems  to  have  been  made  in  the  extent  and 
equipment  of  the  forces  assigned  to  him  by  the  government, 
though  its  interest  in  the  enterprise,  would  have  been  necessarily 
diminished,  if  not  destroyed ;  and  he  probably  had  no  apprehen 
sion  of  being  called  to  a  strict  account  of  the  manner  of  employ 
ing  those  forces,  provided  that  success  should  crown  their  efforts. 
By  the  terms  of  the  Royal  commission,!  dated  April  14th,  the 
object  of  the  expedition  was  declared  to  be  to  bring  certain  coun- 

*  This  material  fact,  and  its  consequences  have  been  strangely  overlooked,  by 
all  the  historians,  who  have  hitherto  related  the  particulars  of  La  Salle's  expe 
dition  to  the  Mexican  Gulf. 

f  The  following  translation  of  La  Salle's  commission,  is  worthy  of  insertion, 
in  order  to  show  what  it  does  not  contain,  as  well  as  the  extent  of  the  powers 
and  privileges  actually  granted  : 

"Louis,  By  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  France  and  Navarre-Greeting — Hav 
ing  resolved  to  engage  in  certain  enterprises  in  North  America,  in  order  to  bring 
several  savage  nations  under  Our  dominion,  and  to  afford  them  the  lights  of 
Faith  and  of  the  Gospel,  We  have  considered,  that  We  could  not  chose  any  one 
better  fitted,  than  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  to  command,  in  Our  name,  all  the  French 
and  the  savages,  whom  he  may  employ,  in  the  execution  of  the  orders  given  to 
him  by  Us.  For  these  and  other  causes,  thereunto  moving  Us,  and  being  well 
assured  of  his  affection  and  fidelity  to  Our  service,  We  have  appointed  and  or 
dained,  and  by  these  presents  signed  with  Our  hand,  We  do  appoint  and  ordain, 
the  said  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  to  command  for  Us,  in  all  the  Countries  in  North 
America,  from  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois  river  to  New  Biscay,  which  shall 
be  brought  anew  under  our  dominion,  as  well  the  French,  as  the  savages  em 
ployed  by  him  in  the  enterprises  committed  to  him  by  Us ;  authorising  him  to 
make  them  live  in  Union  and  concord  with  each  other,  to  keep  the  military  in 
good  order  and  police,  according  to  Our  regulations,  to  establish  Governors  and 
Commandants  in  such  places  as  he  may  judge  proper,  until  We  shall  have  order 
ed  otherwise,  to  maintain  commerce  and  trade,  and  in  general  to  do  and  exer 
cise  everything,  which  may  belong  to  the  office  of  Our  Con>mandant,  in  the 
said  countries,  and  to  enjoy  the  powers,  honors,  authorities,  prerogatives,  pre 
eminences,  franchises,  liberties,  salary,  duties,  fruits,  profits,  revenues,  and  emolu 
ments  thereof,  so  long  as  it  may  seem 'good  to  us. 

To  all  which,  We  have  given  and  We  give  You  power,  by  these  presents, 
whereby,  We  order  all  Our  said  subjects,  and  military  forces  to  recognize,  obey 
and  submit  to  you,  in  all  matters,  concerning  the  present  power:  for  such  is* 
Our  pleasure.  In  witness  whereof,  We  have  caused  Our  secret  seal  to  be  affixed 
lo  these  presents.  Given  at  Versailles,  this  14th  of  April,  1684. 


1684.]  DISAGREEMENT  BETWEEN  LA   SALLE  AND  BEAUJEU.     217 

tries  in  North  America,  under  the  dominion  of  France,  in  order 
that  the  lights  of  religion  might  be  afforded  to  their  inhabitants  : 
to  which  end,  La  Salle  was  empowered  to  command  all  the 
French  and  the  natives  employed  in  the  service  of  the  crown,  in 
the  whole  division  of  that  continent,  between  the  Illinois  country 
and  New  Biscay,  with  authority  to  establish  posts  in  such  places 
as  he  might  judge  proper,  to  maintain  commerce,  and  to  perform 
all  other  duties  of  a  Royal  Commandant.  By  another  order, 
Beaujeu  was  instructed  to  command  the  squadron,  and  direct  its 
navigation,  and  to  afford  to  the  enterprise,  every  facility  in  his 
power;  though  he  was  to  comply  with  the  instructions  of  La 
Salle,  in  all  matters  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  vessels.  In 
case  of  La  Salle's  death,  the  expedition  was  to  be  conducted  by 
the  Chevalier  de  Tonty.  What  farther  instructions  may  have 
been  given  by  the  government  we  know  not;  it  is  however  re 
markable,  that  the  commission,  although  dated  more  than  two 
months  before  the  Truce  of  Ratisbon,  contains  no  allusion  what 
soever,  to  hostile  operations,  against  the  Spanish  Provinces. 

Beaujeu  was  by  no  means  content  with  the  part  assigned  to 
him  in  the  expedition ;  he  complained  to  the  ministry  of  the 
injustice  of  thus  placing  him,  after  thirty  years  of  service  on  sea 
and  land,  under  the  orders  of  a  man,  who  held  no  military  rank, 
and  had  never  served  except  against  savages ;  and  he  entreated 
that  he  might  at  least  be  allowed  to  share  the  command  in  all 
that  related  to  war.  This  request  however  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  granted ;  nor  were  his  wounded  feelings  soothed  by 
the  conduct  of  La  Salle,  who  anxious,  irritable,  and  accustomed 
to  submission  from  those  around  him,  insisted  upon  directing 
every  thing,  even  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  police  and  naviga 
tion  of  the  vessels ;  so  that  a  contest  arose  between  the  two  com 
manders,  which  rendered  their  cordial  co-operation  impossible. 

The  vessels  were  pronounced  ready  for  sea,  in  the  middle  of 
July,  and  the  people  were  accordingly  embarked.  The  volun 
teers  were  about  thirty  in  number,  of  whom  the  principal  were 
La  Salle's  two  nephews  Moranget  and  Cavelier,  the  latter  a  boy, 
the  Marquis  de  Sabloniere,  Messieurs  Planterose,  Ory,  Barbier  and 
Thibault,  and  Talon,  a  Canadian  gentleman  with  his  family;  these 
with  the  soldiers,  settlers,  mechanics,  and  the  seamen  of  the  four 
vessels,  amounted  to  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  individuals. 
28 


218  ARRIVAL    OF    THE    VESSELS    IN     ST.     DOMINGO.  [1684. 

All  things  being  prepared,  the  vessels  sailed  on  the  24th  of 
July;  but  they  were  soon  obliged  to  return,  in  consequence 
of  an  injury  sustained  by  the  frigate  in  a  storm,  which  having 
been  repaired,  they  again  departed  on  the  1st  of  August.  On 
the  20th  of  that  month,  they  were  in  sight  of  Madeira,  where 
Beaujeu  wished  to  stop",  in  order  to  procure  refreshments;  but 
La  Salle  peremptorily  opposed  it,  on  the  ground  that  the  Span 
iards  might  thus  receive  information  of  the  force  and  objects  of 
the  expedition,  and  the  voyage  was  continued  without  inter 
ruption,  until  the  end  of  September,  when  the  Joly,  the  Belle, 
and  the  Aimable,  arrived  at  Petit  Gouave,  on  the  south  coast  of 
St.  Domingo.  The  schooner  St.  Franyois  had  disappeared,  and 
was  supposed  to  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards. 

In  St.  Domingo,  the  vessels  were  detained  nearly  two  months, 
before  the  supplies  required  for  the  remainder  of  the  voyage, 
could  be  got  on  board.  The  differences  between  the  two  chiefs 
of  the  expedition,  had  by  this  time  arrived  at  the  point  of  open 
war,  and  La  Salle  had  moreover  discovered,  that  the  persons  en 
listed  as  soldiers,  settlers  and  mechanics,  were  fpr  the  most  part 
vagabonds  from  the  streets  of  Paris,  who  had  never  handled  an 
arm  or  a  tool,  and  were  in  every  other  respect,  totally  unfit  for 
the  purposes  contemplated.  Many  of  these  people  were  diseased 
at  the  time  of  their  embarkation,  and  others  after  landing  in  the 
island,  indulging  too  freely  in  the  pleasures  which  it  offered,  be 
came  sick,  enfeebled  and  demoralised-  La  Salle  himself  was 
seized  Avith  fever,  which  soon  reduced  him  apparently  to  the  last 
extremity  ;  he  recovered,  to  the  evident  disappointment  of  Beau 
jeu,  and  was  then  driven  almost  to  despair,  by  learning  that  a 
large  number  of  his  men  had  died  or  deserted,  to  supply  the 
places  of  whom  and  to  retain  the  others  he  was  obliged  to  sacri 
fice  nearly  all  his  private  property  in  the  vessels.  The  new  re 
cruits  were  in  general  of  worse  character  than  those  brought  from 
France,  being  taken  mostly  from  among  the  disbanded  smugglers 
and  bucaniers,  who  formed  a  large  class  of  the  population  of  the 
island ;  and  to  their  evil  dispositions,  were  due  many  of  the  un 
fortunate  occurrences  which  followed. 

The  vessels  at  length  put  to  sea  again  on  the  25th  of  Novem 
ber;  La  Salle,  with  Joutel,  Fathers  Zenobe  and  Anastase,  Cave- 
lier  and  others  of  his  party,  having  transferred  their  quarters  from 


1684.] 


SPANISH    MAP    OF    THE    MEXICAN    GULF. 


219 


the  frigate  to  the  Aimable.  According  to  the  advice  received  at 
St.  Domingo,  they  sailed  along  the  south  coast  of  Cuba,  to  Cape 
San  Antonio,  the  western  extremity  of  that  island,  from  which 
they  took  their  departure  on  the  18th  of  December. 


9 e   Mexico 


At  that  period  the  Mexican  Gulf  was,  as  already  said  imper 
fectly  known,  even  to  the  Spaniards,  although  they  had  occupied 
its  southern  side  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  The  general  di 
rection  of  its  coasts  was  delineated  with  some  approach  to  accu 
racy  on  the  maps  of  that  day  as  may  be  seen  in  the  preceding 
copy  of  one  of  them  published  in  1670 :  but  scarcely  a  single 
point  on  the  northern  side  had  been  determined  with  sufficient 
exactness  to  guide  the  navigator  in  search  of  it.  A  large  bay 


220          VOYAGE  ALONG  THE  NORTH   COAST  OF  THE  GULF.    [1684. 

was  always  represented  on  those  maps,  under  the  name  of 
Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  as  lying  nearly  in  the  actual  position  of 
the  Bay  of  Achafalaya,  for  which  it  may  have  been  intended  ; 
ind  south-west  of  this  supposed  bay,  La  Salle  believed  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  to  be  situated,  between  the  27th  and  28th  de 
grees  of  latitude — that  is  to  say,  about  four  hundred  miles  west 
of  its  true  place,  at  which  another  considerable  river  was  then 
said  to  enter  the  Gulf.  They  accordingly  on  leaving  Cape  San 
Antonio  steered  north-westward  across  the  Gulf,  and,  after  en 
countering  some  severe  gales,  on  the  tenth  day  land  was  seen  in  the 
north-east.  Continuing  the  same  course  slowly,  for  three  days 
longer,  the  land  was  again  seen,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1685,  in 
latitude  of  29  degrees  10  minutes;  which,  on  approaching  it, 
proved  to  be  a  level  country,  with  vast  quantities  of  drift  wood  on 
the  shore.  As  no  one  on  board  was  acquainted  with  the  Gulf,  the 
French  were  left  to  conjectures  respecting  the  situation  of  the 
place:  and  La  Salle  having  been  informed  at  St.  Domingo  of  the 
existence  of  the  strong  current  rushing  eastward  across  the  north 
ern  part  of  that  sea,  imagined  that  they  might  have  been  thus 
carried  far  out  of  their  intended  course,  and  that  the  land  before 
them  might  be  the  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Apalache,  in  the  angle 
between  the  peninsula  of  Florida  and  the  mainland. 

Whatsoever  might  have  been  the  opinion  of  Beaujeu  on  this 
point,  the  navigation  was  continued,  agreeably  to  La  Salle's 
wishes,  in  a  westward  direction,  until  the  9th  of  the  month,  when 
some  shoals  were  observed  near  the  entrance  of  a  bay,  in  latitude 
of  29  degrees  23  minutes.  Joutel  and  others,  on  board,  believed 
this  to  be  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  or  of  the  Bay  of  Espiritu 
Santo  as  represented  on  their  maps;  but  La  Salle,  being  per 
suaded  that  they  had  not  yet  advanced  so  far  west,  and  that  the 
mouth  of  the  river  lay  between  the  27th  and  28th  degrees,  con 
tented  himself  with  a  slight  examination  of  the  spot,  and  then 
pursued  his  voyage  westward  along  the  coast  in  advance  of  the 
other  vessels.  Proceeding  slowly  in  this  way,  they  soon  observed 
the  land  trending  towards  the  south ;  and  when  they  had  reachedv 
the  latitude  of  twenty-eight  and  a  half  degrees,  Joutel  was  sent 
with  some  men  in  a  boat  to  explore  and  obtain  water:  he  was, 
however,  unable  to  reach  the  shore,  on  account  of  the  violence  of 
the  surf;  and,  though  some  Indians  swam  off  to  his  boat,  and 


1685.]  LANDING    OF    THE     SETTLERS. 

were  carried  on  board  of  the  Aimable,  nothing  could  be  learned 
from  their  signs. 

On  the  15th,  Joutel  succeeded  in  landing  at  a  place  somewhat 
farther  south,  which  he  found  to  be  a  sandy  plain,  apparently  an 
island,  containing  many  large  salt  pools  but  no  fresh  water.  The 
Aimable  then  sailed  on  for  a  few  hours  longer,  during  which  the 
coast  was  observed  to  turn  constantly  more  towards  the  south; 
and  as  she  had  been  for  some  days  separated  from  the  other  ves 
sels,  La  Salle  anchored  as  near  the  land  as  he  could  with  safety, 
to  await  their  arrival. 

The  Joly  and  the  Belle  did  not  make  their  appearance  until  the 
19th,  and  a  dispute  then  arose  between  La  Salle  and  Beaujeu,  as 
to  the  causes  of  their  delay,  and  the  exact  position  of  the  spot  in 
which  they  were,  with  relation  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 
La  Salle  at  length  admitted  that  they  had  most  probably  passed  the 
outlet  of  the  great  river,  and  he  proposed  that  they  should  return 
along  the  coast  in  search  of  it ;  to  which  Beaujeu  assented,  but 
on  condition  that  a  large  supply  of  provisions  should  be  allowed 
to  the  frigate,  from  the  stores  in  the  Aimable.  La  Salle  offered 
to  allow  enough  for  fifteen  days,  within  which  time  they  might 
reasonably  expect  to  reach  the  object  of  their  search:  this,  how 
ever,  did  not  content  Beaujeu;  and  La  Salle,  suspecting  that  the 
Chevalier  intended  to  desert  him,  and  sail  for  St.  Domingo,  re 
fused  any  farther  allowance  of  provisions  to  the  frigate,  on  the 
ground  that  the  articles  could  not  be  obtained  from  the  hold  of 
the  Aimable,  without  endangering  her  safety,  by  throwing  her  out 
of  trim  or  balance. 

The  two  commanders  being  equally  fixed  in  their  determina 
tions  on  this  point,  La  Salle  adopted  another  course,  the  motives 
for  which  it  is  not  easy  to  divine.  Instead  of  continuing  the 
search  for  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  Aimable  and  the 
Belle,  which  were  entirely  at  his  disposition,  when  he  had  every 
reason  to  believe  himself  within  a  few  days'  sail  of  that  spot,  he 
suddenly  ordered  the  people  engaged  for  the  enterprise  to  be  land 
ed  opposite  the  place  of  his  anchorage,  with  directions  that  they 
should  march  along  the  shore  towards  the  north,  accompanied  by 
the  Belle,  sailing  in  sight  of  them,  until  the  mouth  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  or  some  other  great  river,  should  have  been  discovered. 
Accordingly,  in  the  beginning  of  February,  one  hundred  and 


222  SHIPWRECK    OF    THE    AIMABLE.  [1685. 

thirty  of  those  persons  were  disembarked  at  the  entrance  of  an 
inlet,  which  had  been  already  visited  by  La  Salle  and  other 
officers;  and,  on  the  4th  of  that  month,  they  took  their  depar 
ture,  as  directed,  under  the  command  of  Joutel  and  Moranget. 

The  place  at  which  this  landing  was  effected  was  situated,  ac 
cording  to  their  observations,  about  the  28th  degree  of  latitude, 
near  which  the  Spanish  maps  of  that  period  placed  the  mouth  of 
two  large  rivers  called  Rio  de  Montanas  and  Rio  de  la  Magde- 
lena,  flowing  from  the  north-west;  the  inlet  was  no  doubt  the  en 
trance  of  the  bay,  to  which  the  name  of  Espiritu  Santo  seems  to 
have  been  at  length  definitively  assigned,  lying  immediately  un 
der  the  28th  parallel  above  mentioned,  four  hundred  miles  west 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Thence  they  marched  along 
the  shore,  towards  the  east,  for  three  days,  with  only  a  flat  sandy 
waste  on  the  left;  and,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  their  progress  was 
stopped  by  a  wide  inlet,  or  river  as  they  at  first  supposed  it  to  be, 
on  the  banks  of  which  they  encamped  until  the  vessels  came  up. 
La  Salle  having  then  sounded  the  inlet,  and  found  it  sufficiently 
deep,  resolved  to  bring  the  Belle  and  the  Aimable  into  it,  and  to 
leave  them  there  until  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  should  have 
been  discovered.  He  seems  indeed  to  have  considered  it  possi 
ble,  that  the  opening,  from  which  a  strong  current  issued,  might 
be  one  of  the  outlets  of  the  great  river;  and,  in  this  supposition, 
he  was  x  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of  a  number  of  Indians  in 
canoes,  resembling  those  seen  on  the  lower  Mississippi :  farther 
examinations,  however,  soon  showed  it  to  be  the  entrance  of  a 
large  arm  of  the  sea,  on  which  he,  as  its  discoverer,  bestowed 
the  name  of  Bay  of  St.  Louis. 

Thus  La  Salle,  with  two  vessels  at  his  disposition,  determined 
to  abandon  the  search  for  the  Mississippi  by  sea.  Accordingly, 
on  the  20th,  the  Aimable,  having  been  previously  lightened  by 
landing  some  of  her  guns,  and  other  heavy  articles,  near  the 
entrance  of  the  bay,  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  towards  that 
place;  in  doing  which,  however,  she  struck  upon  a  shoal  and 
sprung  a  leak.  La  Salle  soon  found  that  she  could  not  be  got 
off  in  safety,  and  directed  all  his  efforts  to  save  her  cargo,  in 
which  he  partly  succeeded :  but  a  violent  storm  came  up  a  few 
days  after,  and  obliged  all  on  board  to  abandon  her;  and  in  the 
following  night  she  went  to  pieces.  Some  of  her  light  goods 


1685.] 


BEAUJEU  SAILS  FOR  FRANCE. 


223 


floating  ashore  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  Indians,  who  attempt 
ed  to  seize  them,  but  were  driven  off  with  menaces  by  the  French; 
this  exasperated  the  savages,  and  finding  an  opportunity,  they 
fell  on  a  small  party  of  the  strangers,  of  whom  they  killed  or 
wounded  several  with  arrows  before  they  could  be  repulsed. 

Beaujeu,  according  to  the  accounts  of  the  expedition,  observed 
these  disasters  with  coolness  if  not  with  satisfaction.  He  re 
ceived  the  captain  and  crew  of  the  Aimable,  and  other  persons 
engaged  for  the  enterprise,  on  board  of  his  ship,  and  he  soon 
after  announced  his  intention  to  sail  for  St.  Domingo.  La  Salle 
thereupon  demanded,  that  he  should  at  least  land  the  cannon,  balls, 
and  other  articles  destined  for  the  use  of  the  colony,  which  were 
in  his  ship;  the  Chevalier  however  returned  the  answer  received 
by  him  from  La  Salle  on  a  former  occasion,  that  those  stores 
were  all  in  the  bottom  of  his  hold,  and  could  not  be  obtained 
without  endangering  the  safety  of  the  vessel;  and  on  the  14th  of 
March,  he  set  sail  for  the  West  Indies.  Of  the  conduct  of 
Beaujeu  on  this  and  other  occasions,  we  have  no  means  of  form 
ing  a  correct  judgment,  as  the  accounts  are  all  from  those  inter 
ested  in  favor  of  La  Salle;  and  it  would  be  unjust  to  condemn 
him,  when  those  accounts  themselves  show,  that  his  temper 
must  have  been  put  to  many  severe  trials,  by  the  arrogance  of  his 
colleague.  It  is,  nevertheless,  impossible  to  justify  his  refusal  to 
land  the  articles  demanded  by  La  Salle,  or  his  desertion  of  a 
large  number  of  his  countrymen  on  an  unknown  coast,  even  had 
he  not  been  sent  thither,  as  he  was,  for  the  special  purpose  of 
protecting  them,  until  their  settlement  should  have  been  formed 
with  some  promise  of  success. 

The  whole  number  of  the  French  thus  left  on  the  western 
shore  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  was  about  one  hundred  and  eighty. 
A  temporary  habitation  had  been  erected  for  them,  near  the  en 
trance  of  the  bay,  in  which  the  articles  landed  and  those  saved 
from  the  wreck  of  the  Aimable,  were  also  deposited;  but  as  the 
place  was  entirely  unsuitable  for  their  longer  residence,  La  Salle 
set  out  with  a  small  party,  to  explore  the  interior  country,  in 
search  of  some  better  situation.  After  a  few  days  he  returned, 
having  discovered  a  spot,  which  he  considered  well  adapted  for 
a  settlement;  and  thither  the  people  with  their  supplies  and  ma 
terials  were  transferred,  and  a  fortified  dwelling  was  commenced. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    BAY    OF    ST.    LOUIS. 


[1685. 


which  was  completed  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  and  received 
the  name  of  Fort  St.  Louis.  The  Belle  was  likewise  brought 
into  the  bay,  and  anchored  midway  between  the  fort  and  the  inlet. 
The  exact  ppsition  of  this  fort  or  settlement,  remained  for  a 
long  time  undetermined,  in  consequence  of  the  incorrectness  of 
the  accounts  and  maps  of  that  part  of  America,  which  were  in 
nearly  all  respects,  irreconcilable  with  the  original  narratives  of 
the  enterprise.  These  narratives  are  indeed  by  no  means  clear, 
and  the  latitudes  given  in  them  are  generally  incorrect:  more  exact 
information  as  to  the  localities,  has,  however,  been  obtained  from 
the  journals  of  Spanish  expeditions  to  Texas,  cotemporary  with 
that  of  the  French;  and  by  comparing  all  the  accounts,  with 
the  results  of  modern  surveys,  the  positions  of  the  principal 
points  may  be  now  stated  with  assurance  of  their  accuracy. 


The  coast  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  on  its  north-west  side,  is  ex 
posed  in  only  a  few  places,  to  the  open  sea ;  being  for  the  most 
part,  bordered  by  sandy  islands,  between  which  and  the  main 
land,  are  a  number  of  sounds  and  bays  connected  with  the  gulf 
by  narrow  and  shallow  inlets.  The  bay  of  St.  Louis,  on  which 
the  French  settlement  was  situated,  was  undoubtedly  the  same 


1685.]  SITUATION    OF    FORT    ST.    LOUIS.  225 

afterwards  called  by  the  Spaniards  Bay  of  San  Bernardo,  then 
Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  and  now  known  L.S  Matagorda  Bay,  joining 
the  Mexican  Gulf  at  its  south-east  extremity  by  an  inlet,  called 
Paso  del  Cavallo,  in  latitude  of  28  degrees  18  minutes.  The  bay 
is  irregular  in  form.  Its  greatest  length,  from  east  to  west,  is  about 
fifty  miles;  in  breadth  it  varies  from  ten  to  twenty  miles.  One 
large  river,  now  called  the  Colorado,  and  several  others  much 
smaller,  enter  it  from  the  north;  on  the  south-east,  it  is  separated 
from  the  gulf,  in  its  whole  length,  by  a  low  and  narrow  peninsula 
of  sand;  on  the  south-west,  it  communicates  by  shallow  passages 
with  another  bay,  to  which,  as  already  said,  the  name  of  Espiritu 
Santo  has  been  definitively  assigned.  Vessels  drawing  about  ten 
or  twelve  feet,  may  enter  it  from  the  gulf;  but  only  those  of  much 
less  draught,  can  approach  its  shores  or  ascend  its  rivers. 

Fort  St.  Louis  was  situated  on  the  west  side,  and  five  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  a  small  river,  called  by  the  French  Riviere 
aux  Vaches  or  aux  Breufs,  on  account  of  the  buffaloes  seen  near  it, 
which  empties  into  a  cove  on  the  north- west  side  of  the  Bay  of 
St.  Louis ;  the  river  is  now  known  by  its  Spanish  name  of  La 
Vaca,  or  La  Baca  river,  having  the  same  signification  with  that 
given  by  the  French,  and  the  cove  is  called  La  Baca  bay.  The 
French  establishment  consisted  of  some  wooden  buildings,  made 
chiefly  of  pieces  of  the  wreck  of  the  Aimable,  covered  with  buf 
falo  hides,  and  enclosed  by  a  palisade  of  logs  :  on  its  ramparts 
were  mounted  eight  pieces  of  cannon ;  and  it  was  furnished  with  a 
small  number  of  muskets,  swords,  pistols,  and  other  arms,  and  a 
moderate  supply  of  ammunition,  but  no  cannon  balls. 

In  the  labors  required  for  this  first  establishment,  the  French 

*  "We  were,"  says  Joutel,  "in  about  the  27th  degree  of  latitude  [for  which 
read  281]  two  leagues  inland,  near  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  bank  of  the 
Riviere  aux  Bceufs,  on  a  hillock,  whence  we  saw  vast  and  beautiful  prairies  ex 
tending  far  to  the  west,  all  level  and  covered  with  grass,  affording  pasture  to  in 
finite  numbers  of  buffaloes  and  other  animals.  Towards  the  south  appeared 
other  plains,  adorned  with  thickets  of  several  kinds  of  trees.  South  and  east, 
lay  the  bay  and  the  plains  which  border  it  on  the  east.  In  the  north,  was  the 
Riviere  aux  Boeufs  running  along  the  side  of  a  hill,  beyond  which  were  other 
wide  plains  with  tufts  of  wood  at  snort  distances  apart,  bounded  by  a  forest  of 
large  trees." 

The  spot  might  no  doubt  be  easily  identified,  as  there  should  be  on  it,  some 
vestiges  of  an  extensive  fortification,  erected  there,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown, 
by  the  Spaniards  in  1722. 

29 


226  FIRST    EXPEDITION    INTO    THE    INTERIOR.  [1685. 

passed  the  summer  of  1685,  during  which  a  large  number  of  them 
died,  chiefly  from  diseases  contracted  at  St.  Domingo;  others 
were  killed  by  Indians  or  deserted,  and  some  fell  victims  to  fevers 
apparently  endemic  in  the  country.  Their  attempts  at  agricul 
ture  all  proved  vain,  either  because  the  seeds  planted  were  un 
suitable  to  the  soil  and  climate,  or  more  probably  from  want  of 
proper  attention  and  labor;  there  was,  however,  no  scarcity  of 
food,  as  deer,  buffalo,  wild  turkies,  and  other  game  abounded  in 
their  vicinity,  and  the  bay  was  filled  with  delightful  fish,  oysters 
and  turtle.  They  were  once  alarmed  by  the  appearance  of  a 
vessel  at  the  entrance  of  the  bay ;  but  she  departed  without  any 
signs  of  having  observed  them. 

La  Salle  having  effected  what  was  immediately  required  by  the 
circumstances  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  set  out  in  October,  to  explore 
the  country,  and  to  teach  the  natives  to  respect  his  people.  He 
took  with  him  sixty  men,  leaving  in  the  fort  thirty-four  persons 
under  the  command  of  Joutel ;  and  as  there  were  about  six  others 
on  board  of  the  Belle,  the  whole  number  lost  by  sickness,  by 
wounds  received  from  Indians,  and  by  desertion  during  the  eight 
months  which  had  elapsed  since  their  landing,  could  not  have 
been  less  than  eighty.  From  the  fort,  La  Salle  proceeded  to 
some  distance  along  the  northern  side  of  the  bay,  when  finding 
a  spot  suitable  for  anchorage,  he  caused  the  Belle  to  be  brought 
thither,  and  laid  up  for  the  winter;  an  operation  which  wras  at 
tended  with  the  loss  of  the  pilot  of  that  vessel,  and  five  other 
men,  surprised  at  night  and  killed  by  Indians  on  the  shore  of  the 
bay.  La  Salle  then  placed  the  priest  Chefdeville  and  some  other 
persons  on  board  of  the  vessel,  and  with  the  twenty  remaining 
men,  he  continued  his  exploration. 

As  neither  Joutel  nor  Father  Anastase  were  engaged  in  this 
journey,  very  little  is  known  of  the  direction  taken  by  La  Salle, 
or  the  distance  to  which  he  proceeded.  It  appears  however  to 
be  certain,  that  he  discovered  the  great  river  now  called  the  Co 
lorado,  falling  into  the  north-east  extremity  of  the  bay;  and  it  is 
probable  that  he  thence  advanced  north  eastward,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  sea  coast,  far  enough  to  be  assured  that  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  must  lie  at  a  much  greater  distance  from  his  settle 
ment  than  he  had  previously  imagined.  It  has  been  conjectured 
that  he  endeavored  also  to  penetrate  westward  to  the  vicinity  of 


1686.]  LOSS    OF    THE    BELLE.  227 

the  Spanish  provinces  :  this  supposition  is  neither  sustained  nor 
invalidated  by  either  of  the  narratives  from  which  our  knowledge 
of  his  movements  is  exclusively  derived  ;  it  is  however  not  easy 
to  divine  why  he  should  have  adopted  the  course  off  a  journey 
by  land  merely  in  search  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  we  know  from 
his  memorials,  that  he  believed  the  Spanish  settlements  to  extend 
much  farther  north,  than  they  actually  did  at  that  time. 

On  returning  to  Fort  St.  Louis  in  March,  1686,  La  Salle  learn 
ed  that  several  men,  whom  he  had  sent  back  from  the  upper  end 
of  the  bay,  had  never  arrived  and  had  therefore  probably  been 
starved  or  killed  by  savages;  and  also  that  an  extensive  conspi 
racy  had  been  discovered  among  the  people  in  the  fort,  the  ob 
ject  of  which  was  to  murder  the  principal  persons  of  the  garrison 
and  then  to  escape  in  the  Belle  to  the  West  Indies.  But  that 
which  must  have  occasioned  the  greatest  concern,  was  the  disap 
pearance  of  the  vessel  from  her  anchorage  ;  affording  strong  rea 
sons  for  apprehending  that  she  might  have  been  wrecked  in  one 
of  the  violent  storms  during  the  winter.  Many  deaths  had  also  oc 
curred  at  the  fort;  and  the  stock  of  ammunition  being  almost  ex 
hausted,  it  became  indispensable  to  obtain  assistance  from  some 
other  quarter,  ere  their  forces  should  become  insufficient,  to  hold 
the  Indians  in  check.  La  Salle  therefore  declared  his  intention 
to  set  out  immediately  towards  the  Illinois,  where  his  friend  Ton- 
ty  was  in  command;  calculating  that  he  might  be  able  to  return 
to  the  fort  with  supplies  before  the  following  winter.  In  order 
that  this  long  journey  might  be  accomplished  \vith  speed  and 
safety,  light  portable  canoes  were  made  for  crossing  rivers  ;  and 
clothing  of  wicker  work  was  provided  for  the  men,  sufficient  to 
resist  the  arrows  of  the  Ifcdians.  These  preparations  consumed 
much  time;  but  being  at  length  satisfactorily  completed,  La  Salle 
set  out  from  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  22d  of  April,  accompanied  by 
twenty  persons,  including  Father  Anastase,  from  whom  all  the 
accounts  of  this  journey  are  derived,  as  Joutel  was  again  left  in 
command  of  the  place. 

Shortly  after  their  departure  a  canoe  reached  the  fort,  bringing 
the  priest  Chefdeville,  Sabloniere,  and  five  or  six  others,  the 
only  survivors  of  those  left  in  the  Belle,  which  had  been  driven 
from  her  moorings  in  the  preceding  winter,  and  wrecked  on  the 
south-east  shore  of  the  bay.  Several  of  her  men  had  been  pre- 


228  SECOND    JOURNEY    TOWARDS    THE     NORTH.  [1686. 

viously  lost  in  Their  only  boat,  while  returning  from  the  shore : 
the  others,  after  the  destruction  of  the  vessel,  passed  three  months 
on  the  sandy  slip  of  land  which  separates  the  bay  from  the  Gulf, 
supporting  themselves  as  they  could,  on  the  provisions  saved  from 
the  wreck;  and  there  they  must  have  perished,  had  they  not  for 
tunately  discovered  an  old  canoe  on  the  shore,  in  which  they  made 
their  way  to  Fort  St.  Louis.  It  appears  strange  that  they  should 
not  have  endeavored  to  pass  around  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
bay:  possibly  however  the  sandy,  slip,  now  forming  the  peninsula 
separating  the  bay  from  the  gulf,  may  have  then  been  an  inland; 
such  changes  being  common  on  that  coast,  in  consequence  of  the 
severe  storms  to  which  it  is.  subject. 

From  the  account  of  Father  Anastase,*  we  learn  that  La  Salle 
in  this  journey,  took  a  direction  east  of  north  from  Fort  St.  Louis ; 
and  pursuing  it  five  days,  he  reached  a  river,  named  by  him  the 
Robek,  which  must  have  been  one  of  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Colorado.  Near  this  river  they  met  a  number  of  Indians,  many 
of  whom  were  mounted  on  horses,  with  saddles  and  other  articles 
of  European  manufacture,  derived  doubtless  from  the  Spaniards ; 
but  they  could  give  no  information  respecting  those  people.  At 
the  distance  of  two  leagues  farther,  the  French  crossed  a  larger 
stream — probably  the  main  Colorado — called  by  them  the  Ma- 
ligne,  in  consequence  of  the  danger  to  which  one  of  their  men 
was  exposed  there;  and  beyond  it  they  found  others,  of  which 
one  received  the  name  of  Hiens,  from  a  German  who  fell  into  it, 
and  another  was  called  Riviere  des  Malheurs,  from  the  accidents 
experienced  in  passing  it.  The  country  traversed  by  these  streams 
was  much  better  than  those  farther  south,  and  was  inhabited  by 
friendly  Indians,  of  whom  those  first  met  were  the  Biskatronge, 
the  next  the  Kironoas,  and  the  next,  a  numerous  and  intelligent 
nation,  called  the  Cenis,  who  likewise  had  horses  and  Spanish 
articles  in  their  possession ;  though  they  appeared  to  have  never 
before  seen  a  white  person.  Through  their  country  ran  a  large 
river,  which  the  accounts  of  subsequent  Spanish  expeditions 
show  to  have  been  the  same  now  called  the  Neches,  emptying 

*  The  account  of  this  journey  given  in  the  "  Etablissement  du  Foy,"  [chap.  25] 
from  the  journal  of  Father  Anastase,  is  so  vague  that  it  is  impossible  to  identify 
a  single  spot  mentioned ;  and  we  are  only  able  to  arrive  at  some  conclusions  on 
these  points,  from  Joutel's  narrative  of  his  passage  over  the  same  ground,  and 
from  the  journals  of  subsequent  Spanish  expeditions  to  that  part  of  America. 


1686. 


WRETCHED    CONDITION    OF    THE    FRENCH. 


229 


into  the  Sabine  Lake.  Thence  after  some  days  the  French  con 
tinued  their  route  north-eastward  to  the  region  of  the  Nassonis, 
near  the  Red  river,  where  La  Salle  was  unfortunately  seized  with 
a  fever,  and  lay  languishing  for  two  months.  Meanwhile  several 
of  his  men  died,  and  others  quitted  him  to  live  among  the  savages : 
their  stock  of  powder,  on  which  they  depended  for  subsistence, 
was  moreover  nearly  exhausted ;  and  being  unable  to  proceed  on 
wards,  under  such  circumstances,  they  returned  to  Fort  St.  Louis. 
There  they  arrived  in  the  middle  of  October,  with  only  eight  of 
the  twenty  men,  who  had  left  the  place  in  April  preceding;  and 
La  Salle  had  then  to  receive  from  Joutel,  confirmation  of  the  loss 
of  their  only  vessel,  arid  accounts  of  sickness,  deaths,  treachery 
and  conspiracies  among  the  inmates  of  the  fort. 

The  condition  of  the  French  colonists  on  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis 
was  indeed  most  deplorable.  Of  the  hundred  and  eighty,  who 
had  landed  with  La  Salle,  in  March,  1685,  only  thirty-seven  could 
be  mustered  at  the  fort,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  following  year; 
and  these  were  nearly  all  despairing  or  desperate,  and  dissatis 
fied  with  their  leader,  towards  whom  some  of  them  entertained 
the  strongest  feelings  of  animosity.  Even  the  Recollet  Father 
Maxime  le  Clercq,  though  considered  a  good  man,  could  not  re 
frain  from  consigning  to  his  journal,  reflections  so  bitter  upon  La 
Salle's  conduct,  that  Joutel,  on  learning  the  fact,  thought  proper 
to  require  the  destruction  of  the  papers.  Of  relief  from  France 
no  hope  was  entertained;  and  under  such  circumstances,  the  only 
resource  which  seemed  to  be  left  was  the  immediate  transfer 
of  the  whole  party  to  the  Illinois.  This  would  no  doubt  have 
been  at  once  attempted  had  there  not  been  among  them  six  women 
and  four  young  children,  who  could  not  possibly  have  performed 
a  journey  so  long,  painful,  and  dangerous:  Joutel  offered  to  go 
with  sixteen  men  to  that  country  in  search  of  assistance ;  but  La 
Salle  considered  his  own  presence  necessary  on  the  journey,  and 
he  accordingly  determined  to  make  another  effort  to  reach  the 
Illinois. 

For  this  object,  he  divided  his  forces  equitably ;  taking  with 
him  sixteen  men,  and  leaving  the  remaining  ten  at  the  fort  for  the 
protection  of  the  women  and  children.  The  party  destined  for  the 
journey  included,  besides  the  commander,  his  brother  Cavalier 
the  priest,  and  their  nephews  Cavelier  and  Moranget,  Joutel  as 


230        LA    SALLE     ATTEMPTS    TO    REACH     THE    ILLINOIS.    [1687. 

lieutenant,  Father  Anastase,  Liotot  the  surgeon,  the  eldest  son 
of  Talon,  and  Nika  an  Indian  from  Canada,  who  had  accom 
panied  La  Salle  in  his  expeditions,  for  several  years,  and  always 
proved  true  and  useful.  In  the  fort  remained  Barbier  as  .com 
mandant,  Fathers  Zenobe  and  Maxime,  Sabloniere,  Chefdeville, 
Talon  with  his  wife  and  three  young  children,  and  others  to  the 
number  of  twenty.  The  place  was  left  tolerably  well  supplied 
with  arms  and  ammunition,  except  that  there  were  no  balls  for  the 
eight  pieces  of  cannon. 

The  separation  betw'eer^  the  two  parties  took  place  in  gloom 
and  silence,  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  January,  1687.  Pur 
suing  nearly  the  same  route,  as  in  his  last  expedition,  La  Salle, 
on  the  13th,  passed  a  large  river  emptying  into  the  Bay  of  St. 
Louis,  which  Father  Anastase  calls  Riviere  aux  Cannes,  and 
Joutel  names  Riviere  des  Princesses;  it  was  of  course  the  Col 
orado.  Farther  on,  they  crossed  another  stream,  to  which  they 
gave  the  appellation  of  La  Sabloniere,  running  through  a  sandy 
country  ;  this  may  have  been  the  St.  Bernard :  and,  in  the  be 
ginning  of  February,  they  reached  the  Maligne,  the  description 
of  which,  in  both  the  accounts  of  this  expedition,  applies  to  the 
Brazos,  rather  than  the  Colorado.  Having  passed  it,  as  well  as 
the  Hiens,  which  Joutel  calls  the  Eure, — possibly  the  same  now 
known  as  the  Navasoto, — they  spent  some  time  among  the 
friendly  Indians  in  its  vicinity;  and,  in  the  middle  of  March,  they 
reached  the  large  river,  called  by  Joutel  Riviere  aux  Canots, 
which  seems  to  have  been  the  same  now  known  as  the  Trinity, 
falling  into  Galveston  Bay.  Why  they  spent  more  than  two 
months,  on  their  way  to  this  point,  which  could  not  have  been  at  a 
greater  distance  than  two  hundred  miles  from  Fort  St.  Louis,  on  a 
route  already  known  to  them,  and  when  time  was  so  valuable, 
we  do  not  learn  from  either  account  of  the  expedition. 

Thus  far  the  French  had  encountered  no  obstacles  or  accidents 
of  importance;  dark  thoughts,  however,  had  been  brooding  in 
the  minds  of  some  of  the  party,  and  a  bloody  tragedy  was  about 
to  be  enacted,  on  the  banks  of  the  Riviere  aux  Canots. 

It  has  been  said,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  people  brought 
by  La  Salle  from  France,  were  of  the  lowest  order,  and  that  others 
of  worse  character  joined  him  at  St.  Domingo.  Disease  had  in 
deed  so  far  diminished  the  number  of  these  persons,  that  they 


1687.]  CONSPIRACY    AGAINST    LA     SALLE.  231 

formed  an  inconsiderable  minority  of  the  whole  body  of  the  colo 
nists;  but  a  large  and  effective  portion  of  those  who  accompanied 
La  Salle  in  this  expedition,  were  inimical  to  him,  and  had  deter 
mined  to  destroy  him,  so  soon  as  an  opportunity  should  present 
itself.  The  principal  of  these  enemies  of  their  commander  were 
Liotot  the  surgeon,  and  Duhaut  one  of  the  colonists,  who  had 
been  detected  in  several  attempts  to  excite  mutinies  at  the  fort; 
the  animosity  of  the  latter,  seems  to  have  been  in  part  occasioned 
by  the  loss  of  his  brother,  who  had  been  sent  back  by  La  Salle 
to  the  settlement,  for  some  misconduct  during  the  first  expedition 
to  the  north,  and  was  supposed  to  have  been  murdered  on  the 
way  by  Indians.*  The  other  conspirators  were  Hiens  or  Hans, 
the  German  already  mentioned,  who  had  been  a  bucanier,  and 
had  entered  the  service  at  St.  Domingo,  and  L'Archeveque  and 
Teissier,  seamen:  their  motives  of  discontent  are  not  known, 
but  probably  had  their  origin  in  the  haughty  manner,  and  abso 
lute  if  not  tyrannical  character  of  La  Salle. 

The  conspirators  kept  their  intentions  to  themselves  until  the 
party  had  crossed  the  Riviere  aux  Canots ;  two  leagues  beyond 
which  La  Salle  encamped  on  the  14th  of  March,  and  thence  sent 
back  Liotot,  Duhaut,  Hiens  and  the  Indian  Nika,  to  bring  the 
meat  of  some  buffaloes,  killed  in  the  morning.  As  these  men  did 
not  return  on  the  17th,  La  Salle  despatched  Moranget,  accom 
panied  by  L'Archeveque,  Teissier,  a  man  named  Marie  or  Marne, 
and  his  own  servant  Saget,  in  search  df  them.  On  arriving  at 
the  place  where  the  buffaloes  lay,  Moranget  found  the  men,  and 
reprehended  them  for  their  conduct,  in  harsh  language,  taking 
from  them  moreover,  not  only  the  meat  required  for  the  use  of  the 
whole  company,  but  also  the  marrow  bones  and  other  parts  of 
the  animal,  usually  considered  as  the  special  perquisites  of  the 
hunters.  This  irritated  the  conspirators,  who  being  all  assem 
bled,  determined  no  longer  to  defer  the  execution  of  their  plan. 
Accordingly  on  that  night,  Moranget,  Nika,  and  Saget,  were  each 
in  succession,  murdered  while  they  slept,  by  Liotot,  who  des- 

*Charlevoix  says,  as  received  by  him  from  good  authority,  that  two  of  the 
murderers  of  La  Salle — doubtless  meaning  Liotot  and  Duhaut — were  associated 
with  him  in  the  enterprise,  and  had  advanced  a  portion  of  the  funds  for  the 
equipment  of  the  expedition,  in  the  success  of  which  they  were  consequently  in 
terested  ;  and  he  intimates  that  nothing  but  the  unbearable  ill  temper  and  tyranny 
of  La  Salle  could  have  induced  them  to  commit  this  act. 


232  MURDER    OF    LA    SALLE.  [1687. 

patched  his  victims  with  an  axe;  the  others  standing  by  with 
their  arms  ready,  in  case  resistance  should  be  attempted.  The 
Indian  and  Saget  made  no  movement  after  receiving  their  death 
blows;  Moranget  started  up  and  lived  some  minutes,  until  Marne 
had  been  compelled  by  the  villains  to  complete  their  bloody  work. 
The  conspirators  had  now  gone  too  far  to  recede,  and  indeed 
they  held  the  power  in  their  own  hands.  They  remained  about 
the  scene  of  their  crime  until  the  20th  of  the  month,  \vhen  La 
Salle  becoming  uneasy,  went  himself  with  Father  Anastase,  and 
an  Indian,  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  delay.*  On  approach 
ing  the  river,  he  fired  his  gun  as  a  signal ;  and  he  soon  after 
met  L'Archeveque,  who,  in  answer  to  his  questions  about  Moran- 

*  Joutel  thus  relates  the  particulars  of  this  murder: 

"  When  he  [La  Salle]  came  near  the  camp  of  the  assassins,  on  looking  around 
in  search  of  it,  he  observed  some  eagles  flying  about  a  spot  not  far  off,  which  led 
him  to  believe  that  they  had  found  some  dead  animal;  and  he  fired  his  gun, 
which  was  the  signal  of  his  death,  or  at  least  hastened  it.  The  conspirators 
hearing  the  report,  concluded  that  it  came  from  M.  de  La  Salle,  who  had  come 
in  search  of  them  ;  and  they  prepared  their  arms  to  surprise  him.  Duhaut  first 
crossed  the  river,  with  L'Archeveque ;  and  the  former,  seeing  M.  de  La  Salle  at 
a  distance,  as  he  was  approaching  them,  advanced  and  hid  himself  among  some 
high  weeds  to  wait  for  him  ;  so  that  M.  de  La  Salle,  suspecting  nothing,  and  not 
having  even  charged  his  gun  again,  saw  L'Archeveque  in  front  and  immediately 
enquired  for  his  nephew  Moranget ;  to  which  L'Archeveque  answered,  that  he 
was  up  the  river.  At  the  same  moment,  the  traitor  Duhaut  fired  his  piece  and 
shot  M.  de  La  Salle  through  the  head,  so  that  he  dropped  down  dead  on  the  spot 
without  speaking  a  word."  ****** 

"  The  shot  by  which  M.  de  Ln  Salle  was  killed  was  also  a  signal  to  the  other 
assassins  to  come  up,  and  they  all  drew  around  the  place  where  the  poor  corpse 
lay,  and  barbarously  stript  it  to  the  shirt,  and  vented  their  malice  against  their 
former  commander  in  vile  and  opprobrious  language.  The  surgeon  Liotot  seve 
ral  times  said  in  derision,  '  Lie  there,  Grand  Bashaw  !  Lie  there,  Grand  Bashaw/ 
They  then  dragged  it  naked  among  the  bushes  and  left  it  exposed  to  the  rava- 
nous  wild  beasts  ;  so  far  was  it  from  being  true,  as  stated  by  a  certain  author, 
[Father  Anastase,  in  the  Etablissement  de  la  Foy,]  that  he  was  buried,  and  that 
a  cross  was  erected  over  his  grave." 

The  murder  of  La  Salle  has  been  usually  supposed  to  have  been  committed 
near  the  Brazos  river;  a  careful  examination  of  the  narratives  of  Joutel  and 
Father  Anastase  has,  however,  convinced  the  author  of  this  history,  that  it  must 
have  occurred  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Trinity,  which  river  appears  to  corres 
pond  in  all  respects  with  the  Riviere  aux  Canots.  It  is  moreover  certain,  from 
the  journals  of  the  Spanish  expeditions  through  those  regions,  that  the  Cenis, 
among  whom  the  French  arrived  after  the  murder,  without  crossing  any  other 
large  river,  inhabited  the  cbuntry  traversed  by  the  Neches  and  its  branches, 
around  the  present  town  of  Nacogdoches.  See  the  account  of  the  expedition 
of  Alonzo  de  Leon,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  chapter. 


1687.]         MURDER    OF    THE    ASSASSINS    OF    LA    SALLE.  233 

j 

get  and  the  other  men,  said  in  a  surly  tone  that  they  had  gone 
up  the  river.  In  the  meantime  Duhaut  crept  softly  through  the 
weeds,  and  when  near  enough  to  be  sure  of  his  aim  he  fired 
his  gun  at  his  commander,  who,  receiving  the  ball  in  his  head, 
fell  almost  instantly  dead.  The  other  conspirators  then  com 
ing  up,  stripped  the  body,  and  treated  it  with  every  indignity ; 
though  they  finally  allowed  Father  Anastase,  as  he  says,  to  bury 
it,  and  erect  a  cross  on  the  spot. 

The  conspirators,  after  the  murder  of  La  Salle,  were- the  mas 
ters  of  the  party.  Of  the  eight  others,  Joutel,  the  two  priests, 
and  the  two  boys,  were  all  who  could  have  been  considered  as 
attached  to  their  late  chief;  and  resistance  by  them  would  have 
been  unavailing.  Cavelier,  on  learning  his  brother's  fate,  ex 
pected  to  be  the  next  sacrificed,  and  asked  only  half  an  hour  to 
prepare  himself;  but  they  assured  him  that  he  had  no  cause 
for  alarm,  as  what  they  had  done  was  occasioned  by  the  ty 
ranny  of  La  Salle,  which  had  driven  them  to  desperation. 
Joutel,  whom  Duhaut  had  resolved  also  to  kill,  wras  spared 
through  the  influence  of  L'Archeveque.  Duhaut  then  assumed 
the  command,  and,  proceeding  onwards,  they  soon  reached  the 
Cenis  village:  there  they  remained  two  months,  and  were  joined 
by  Ruter  and  Grollet,  two  of  their  companions  who  had  deserted 
during  the  former  expedition.  Meanwhile  a  difference  had  arisen 
between  the  chiefs  of  the  murderers,  some  wishing  to  remain  in 
that  country,  while  others  insisted  upon  returning  to  Fort  St. 
Louis,  where  they  proposed  to  build  a  vessel,  and  go  to  the  West 
Indies ;  and  a  dispute  took  place  as  to  the  division  of  the  goods, 
in  the  course  of  which,  Liotot  and  Duhaut  were  killed  by  Hiens 
and  his  partizans.  After  some  time,  during  which  the  bucanier 
and  his  followers  engaged  with  the  Indians  in  an  expedition 
against  their  enemies,  it  was  agreed  that  a  separation  should  be 
made ;  and  the  two  Caveliers,  Father  Anastase,  Joutel,  Marne, 
Teissier,  and  two  others,  accordingly  took  their  departure  for  the 
Illinois,  in  the  middle  of  May;  leaving  Hiens,  L'Archeveque, 
Grollet,  Ruter,  and  Breman,  among  the  Cenis.  The  young  Ta 
lon  also  remained  with  the  Indians;  but  for  what  reason  we  know 
not,  unless,  as  most  probable,  from  anxiety  respecting  the  fate  of 
his  father  and  family. 

The  separation  probably  took  place  near  the  head  waters  of  the 
30 


234          FIRST  JOURNEY  OF  TONTY  IN  AID  OF  LA   SALLE.        [1686. 

Neches.  Cavelier,  Father  Anastase,  and  their  party,  proceeding 
north-eastward,  crossed  a  river  probably  the  Sabine,  and  entered 
into  the  country  of  the  Nahordikes  Indians;  thence  they  passed 
to  the  Nassonis,  and,  on  the  16th  of  June,  they  crossed  another 
and  very  large  stream,  which  was  no  doubt  the  Red  River.  Far 
ther  on,  they  met  in  succession  the  Nachitos,  the  Cadodakios, 
and  the  Cahainano  tribes,  through  whose  territories  ran  many 
large  rivers;  in  one  of  these  streams,  probably  the  Washita, 
Marne  was  drowned,  and  his  name  was  assigned  to  it  in  conse 
quence.  At  last,  in  the  middle  of  July,  the  wearied  travellers 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  on  the  banks  of  which  they, 
to  their  joy  and  surprise,  observed  a  cross,  and  soon  after  a  house 
evidently  made  by  civilized  people.* 

It  will  be  necessary  now  to  revert  to  the  Chevalier  de  Tonty, 
who  was  left  in  command  of  the  fort  on  the  Illinois  when  La 
Salle  departed  for  France  in  1683.  On  learning  that  his  former 
chief  had  embarked  for  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  he  endea 
vored  to  obtain  the  means  of  joining  him  there;  but  was  con 
stantly  disappointed  by  the  opposition  of  M.  de  la  Barre,  the 
Governor  General  of  Canada.  In  1684  however,  de  la  Barre 
was  succeeded  by  M.  de  Denonville,  who  being  friendly  to  La 
Salle,  immediately  authorised  an  expedition  from  Canada  to  co 
operate  with  him.  Tonty  accordingly  quitted  the  Illinois  in 
February,  1686,  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  in 
April.  From  that  point  he  sent  canoes  in  each  direction  along 
the  coast  to  some  distance,  in  search  of  his  countrymen;  and 
even  endeavored  to  prevail  on  his  men  to  accompany  him  in  a 
voyage  in  that  way,  around  the  peninsula  of  Florida  to  New 
York.  They  however  all  refused  to  engage  in  so  hazardous  an 
enterprise ;  whereupon  he  left  marks  in  conspicuous  places  on  the 
coast,  and  gave  a  letter  to  a  Quinipissa  chief,  to  be  delivered  to 
La  Salje  in  case  he  should  arrive  there  ;f  after  which  he  returned 

*  According  to  the  computation  of  Father  Anastase,  they  had  travelled  from 
Fort  St.  Louis  north  sixty  leagues,  and  east  north-east  forty  leagues  to  the  Cenis  ; 
thence  twenty-five  leagues  east  north-east  to  the  Nasonis ;  thence  forty  leagues 
north  north-east  to  the  Cadodakios  ;  thence  twenty-five  leagues  north-east  to  the 
Cahainano ;  thence  sixty  leagues  east  north-east  to  the  Arkansas — in  all  two 
hundred  and  fifty  leagues. 

f  This  letter,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  chapter,  was  found  by  M.  de 
Jberville,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  in  169U. 


1689.]  SECOND  JOURNEY  OF  TONTY.  235 

up  the  river  to  the  Illinois.  He  however  took  the  precaution  to 
build  a  house  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  and  to  place  in  it 
a  few  men,  so  as  to  form  an  intermediate  point  for  the  purpose 
of  facilitating  communications,  if  they  should  be  required  between 
the  Illinois  and  the  gulf. 

At  this  place  Cavelier,  Father  Anastase,  Joutel,  and  the  others 
of  their  party,  arrived  in  the  beginning  of  July,  1687;  and  having 
been  there  refreshed  and  provided  with  canoes  and  guides,  they 
pursued  their  route  up  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois,  to  the  Rock 
fort  on  the  latter  river,  which  they  reached  on  the  14th  of  Sep 
tember.  Tonty  was  then  absent,  but  he  returned  in  the  end  of 
October  and  greeted  the  wanderers  as  brothers.  He  was  not 
treated  with  equal  frankness  by  them;  for  Cavelier  and  Joutel, 
while  relating  the  particulars  of  the  expedition  thought  proper,  for 
some  reason  not  clearly  explained,  to  suppress  entirely  the  fact 
of  the  death  of  La  Salle,  whom  they  pretended  to  have  left  in  good 
health  in  the  Cenis  country.*  Having  been  supplied  with  money 
and  other  necessaries,  the  priest,  the  Friar  and  Joutel  departed 
on  the  27th  of  March,  1688,  for  Chicago,  from  which  they  went 
to  Michilimackinac :  there  they  gave  the  same  false  account  to 
the  commandant,  the  celebrated  Baron  de  la  Hontan;  and  even  in 
Canada  they  concealed  the  death  of  La  Salle  from  the  Governor 
General,  so  that  the  fact  did  not  become  publicly  known,  until 
some  time  after  their  arrival  in  France. 

Before,  or  soon  after  the  departure  of  Cavelier  and  his  compan 
ions  from  the  Illinois,  Tonty  received  the  news  of  the  death  of 
La  Salle,  from  the  person  charged  with  the  direction  of  the  es 
tablishment  on  the  Arkansas,  to  whom  the  priest  had  been  more 
communicative  during  his  stay  there.  With  the  hope  of  rescu 
ing  his  unfortunate  countrymen  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  he  prepared 
to  penetrate  thither,  if  possible  by  land ;  but  he  was  unable  to  set 
out  until  1689.  In  April  of  that  year,  he  reached  the  river  of 
the  Cadodakios,  which  the  natives,  says  he,  "call  the  Red  river, 
because  it  deposites  a  sand,  rendering  its  waters  as  red  as 

*  "  This  was  true,"  says  Joutel,  "  for  Monsieur  Cavelier  and  I,  v/ho  gave  the  ac 
count,  were  not  present  at  the  death  of  M.  de  la  Salle ;  and  he  was  well  when  he 
left  us."  Father  Anastase,  who  was  an  eye  witness,  and  Teissier,  one  of  the 
murderers,  "to  avoid  lying,  said  nothing."  No  mention  is  made  of  this  conceal 
ment  in  the  account  given  in  the  Etablissement  de  la  Foy,  which  is  copied  from 
the  narrative  of  Father  Anastase 


236  THE    SPANIARDS    IN    SEARCH    OF    THE    FRENCH.      [1686. 

blood;"  crossing  it  near  the  present  town  of  Natchitoches,  he 
went  to  within  three  days'  journey  of  the  place,  where  La  Salle 
had  been  killed,  and  there  learned,  that  some  of  the  French,  who 
had  remained  in  that  country,  as  already  related,  had  been  put  to 
death  by  the  Indians.  Farther  on,  Tonty  was  assured  that  a 
large  body  of  Spaniards  were  in  his  vicinity,  whereupon  he  was 
obliged  to  return  to  the  Illinois.* 

The  report  received  by  Tonty,  of  the  presence  of  the  Spaniards 
in  that  country,  was  correct,  f 

Information  that  the  French  were  engaged  in  making  an  es 
tablishment  on  the  north  coast  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  was  received 
early  in  1685  by  the  governor  of  Havanna,  from  a  vessel  of  that 
nation  which  had  been  taken  on  the  coast  of  Yucatan ;  and  a  ship 
was  in  consequence  sent  under  Juan  Enriquez  Barroto,  who  ex 
amined  the  north  coast  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Florida, 
to  Vera  Cruz,  without  discovering  any  thing  calculated  to  con 
firm  the  report.  Other  rumors  to  the  same  effect  were  received 
by  the  Court  of  Madrid ;  and  the  Count  de  Monclova,  on  being 
appointed  Viceroy  of  Mexico  in  1686,  was  specially  instructed  to 
seek  for  the  intruders,  and  to  deal  with  them  according  to  the 
general  law  of  the  Indies — that  is  to  say  to  put  them  to  death  or 
confine  them  for  life  in  the  mines. 

For  this  purpose,  two  armed  vessels  commanded  respectively, 
by  Martin  de  Ribas,  and  Juan  de  Iriarte,  with  Barroto,  as  pilot, 
sailed  from  Vera  Cruz  in  1686;  and  tracing  the  coast  northward, 

*  Tonty  when  at  Paris  in  1693,  presented  to  the  ministry  a  petition  for  employ 
ment,  accompanied  by  a  memorial,  containing  a  sketch  of  his  services  in  Canada, 
in  conjunction  with  La  Salle,  and  of  his  subsequent  endeavors  to  penetrate  from 
the  Illinois  to  the  fort  erected  by  the  French  on  the  Mexican  Gulf.  This  docu 
ment  seems  to  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  some  unauthorised  person  in  Paris, 
who  from  it  and  from  other  sources,  manufactured  a  book  entitled  "  Dernieres 
decouvertes  de  M.  de  La  Salle  dans  1'Amerique  Septentrionale,"  and  published 
it  in  1697,  under  the  name  of  Tonty.  It  is  filled  with  blunders  ;  and  its  publica 
tion  proved  very  annoying  to  the  honest  Italian,  who  afterwards  disavowed  it  en 
tirely.  The  original  memorial  of  Tonty,  still  remains  in  the  archives  of  the 
government  at  Paris ;  a  copy  of  it  was  procured  by  Mr.  T.  Falconer,  who  in  1844 
published  a  translation  at  London  in  his  work  on  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi. 
It  is  a  clear  and  concise  account,  bearing  every  mark  of  truth,  and  correctness 
(except  some  inaccuracies  as  to  dates)  and  is  calculated  from  its  whole  tone,  to 
convey  a  most  favorable  opinion  of  the  character  of  the  writer.  See  page  197. 

f  The  following  accounts  of  the  movements  of  the  Spaniards,  are  derived  from 
Barcia's  "  Ensayo  Chronologico."  and  from  Spanish  manuscripts,  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  author. 


1687.]    THE   SPANIARDS   DISCOVER  THE  BAY  OF   ST.   LOUIS.        '237 

they  found  the  remains  of  a  vessel,  at  the  entrance  of  a  bay  on 
the  west  side  of  the  gulf,  in  latitude  of  29£  degrees,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  Bay  of  San  Bernardo.  Within  the  bay 
they  discovered  the  wreck  of  another  vessel,  and  took  from  it  four 
pieces  of  cannon  of  French  manufacture,  and  a  shield  bearing  the 
arms  of  France ;  and  being  thus  persuaded  that  the  intruders  had 
all  perished,  they  returned  to  Vera  Cruz.  The  wrecks  were  no 
doubt  those  of  the  Aimable  and  Belle;  the  latitude  assigned  to  the 
entrance  of  the  bay,  is  about  one  degree  too  high;  but  that  was  a 
small  error  for  a  Spanish  navigator,  at  the  period  in  question. 

The  Viceroy,  being  howrever  still  unsatisfied  as  to  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  French,  despatched  two  vessels  to  the  north  coasts, 
under  Don  Andres  de  Pes,  a  distinguished  naval  officer,  who  in 
the  spring  of  1687,  also  examined  the  bay  of  San  Bernardo  or 
St.  Louis,  and  found  there  the  wrecks  observed  by  Ribas  and 
Iriarte;  but  he  did  not  learn  any  news  of  the  French  establish 
ment.  The  Spaniards  thence  traced  the  coast  eastward  to  the 
Bay  of  Apalache,  from  which  they  passed  over  to  Vera  Cruz. 

In  the  following  year,  an  Englishman  named  White,  who  had 
been  carried  as  prisoner  to  Havanna,  declared  that  the  French  set 
tlement  was  still  maintained,  and  that  he  had  visited  it  himself; 
whereupon  it  was  determined  in  a  council  of  the  authorities  at 
Mexico,  that  farther  search  should  be  made  for  the  obnoxious 
trespassers  on  the  territory  of  his  Catholic  majesty.  A  frigate 
and  a  schooner  were  accordingly  sent  under  Pes,  who  leaving  his 
ship  in  the  Bay  of  Mavila,  (as  the  Bay  of  Mobile  was  then  called,) 
traced  the  coast  in  the  schooner  westward,  and  entered  the  Mis 
sissippi  or  Rio  de  la  Palisada,  which  he  ascended  to  the  distance 
of  thirty  leagues,  without  seeing  or  hearing  any  thing  of  the 
French.  If  this  account  be  true,  as  there  is  every  reason  to  re 
gard  it,  the  Spaniards  may  claim  the  merit  of  having  first  entered 
the  great  river  from  the  gulf,  as  well  as  of  having  first  ascertained 
its  existence,  and  first  navigated  it  from  the  interior  to  the  sea. 

In  the  latter  part  of  that  year,  1688,  the  Count  de  Monclova 
was  succeeded  in  the  government  of  Mexico  by  the  Count  de 
Galve,  who  immediately  took  measures  for  the  exploration  and 
settlement  of  the  unknown  regions  bordering  upon  the  Gulf, 
north  and  east  of  the  Rio  Bravo.  The  execution  of  this  duty 
was  committed  to  Alonzo  de  Leon,  who  was  with  that  view,  ap- 


238  EXPEDITION    OF    ALONZO    DE    LEON.  [1689. 

\ 

pointed  governor  of  a  province  called  Coahuila,  or  New  Ex- 
tremadura,  formed  from  the  western  portion  of  New  Leon. 

The  capital  of  the  new  province,  which  then  contained  only 
a  few  villages  of  converted  Indians,  was  the  little  town  of  Coa 
huila,  now  called  Monclova,  situated  on  a  branch  of  the  Salado 
river,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Bravo.  From  this  place, 
Alonzo  de  Leon  set  out  on  the  23d  of  March,  1689,  with  a  hun 
dred  soldiers  and  some  Indians,  under  the  guidance  of  a  French 
man  from  Fort  St.  Louis,  who  had  been  found  wandering  in  the 
vicinity  of  Coahuila,  in  the  preceding  year.  Descending  the 
little  stream,  to  its  junction  with  the  Salado,  he  thence  turned 
north-eastward,  and  on  the  2nd  of  April  he  reached  the  Rio 
Bravo,  which  he  forded  with  his  troops,  probably  near  the  site  of 
the  present  town  of  Laredo.  Continuing  the  jnarch  in  the  same 
direction  eighteen  leagues,  they  crossed  another  river,  which  was 
called  the  Nueces,  from  the  number  of  nut  trees  growing  on  its 
banks;  and  ten  leagues  farther  on,  another  named  Rio  Hondo  or 
Deep  river,  probably  that  now  known  as  the  Aransaso.  At  the 
distance  of  eighteen  leagues  beyond,  they  rested  on  the  banks  of 
the  Medina,  now  the  San  Antonio;  and  on  the  14th  of  the  month 
they  crossed  the  Guadalupe,  so  named  in  honor  of  their  patroness, 
the  celebrated  Virgin,  enthroned  near  Mexico.  The  first  distinct 
accounts  of  the  French  were  there  received  from  the  Indians,  who 
stated  that  the  strangers  had  lived  in  houses  near  the  sea,  until 
within  a  few  months,  when  they  all  died  from  some  disease 
which  broke  out  among  them.  These  savages  had  in  their  pos 
session  French  books,  and  other  articles  of  the  manufacture  of 
that  nation;  and  they  furnished  the  Spaniards  with  guides  to 
conduct  them  to  the  spot  lately  occupied  by  the  white  men.* 

Leaving  the  main  body  of  his  troops  encamped  on  the  Guada 
lupe,  Alonzo  de  Leon  proceeded,  on  the  21st  of  April,  with  a 
few  men,  to  the  place  where  stood  the  ruins  of  Fort  St.  Louis. 
They  occupied  a  slight  elevation  on  a  small  stream,  near  its  en 
trance  into  a  bay;  and  consisted  of  several  wooden  buildings, 
which  had  been  enclosed  by  a  palisade.  The  principal  of  these 
houses  was  in  the  form  of  a  fort,  made  chiefly  of  pieces  from  the 
wreck  of  a  vessel;  over  the  door,  was  inscribed  the  number  1685, 

*  See  translation  of  the  Journal  of  Alonzo  de  Leon,  among  the  Proofs  and  Il 
lustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  E. 


1689.]     ARRIVAL  OF  THE    SPANIARDS  AT  FORT   ST.   LOUIS.          239 

indicating  the  year  of  its  construction.  Near  it  was  a  small 
building,  which  seemed  to  have  been  used  as  a  chapel;  and 
around  were  five  other  houses  of  logs,  entirely  covered  with  buf 
falo  hides.  The  place  had  been  evidently  sacked,  and  all  that 
savages  could  consider  valuable,  had  been  taken  away.  Among 
the  ruins  were  found  eight  pieces  of  small  iron  cannon,  some  dis 
mounted,  others  upon  shattered  carriages,  with  three  old  swivels ; 
while  the  ground  was  covered  with  torn  books,  in  the  French 
language,  broken  casks,  boxes  and  bottles,  musket  stocks,  and 
other  articles  which  the  plunderers  regarded  as  of  no  value.  Near 
the  ruins,  the  Spaniards  discovered  the  remains  of  three  human 
bodies,  one  of  which  seemed  to  be  that  of  a  female,  from  the 
fragments  of  dress  adhering  to  it ;  these  were  decently  buried  by 
order  of  the  Governor,  who  caused  a  mass  to  be  sung  over  them. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Fort  St.  Louis  in  April,  1689,  ac 
cording  to  the  report  of  Alonzo  de  Leon.  It  has  been  asserted 
on  the  contrary,  that  the  Spaniards  found  the  place  still  occupied 
by  the  French,  whom  they  made  prisoners  or  put  to  death:  but 
there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  in  support  of  the  assertion ; 
and  it  is  much  more  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  the  few  helpless 
men,  women  and  children  left  there  by  La  Salle  in  January, 
1687,  had  fallen  victims  to  disease,  and  to  the  vengeance  or  cu 
pidity  of  the  savages,  before  the  arrival  of  the  troops  from  Mexico. 
Indeed,  Alonzo  de  Leon,  had  he  acted  as  thus  asserted,  would 
have  probably  proclaimed  the  fact  as  a  proof  of  his  punctuality  in 
executing  the  orders  of  his  government. 

According  to  a  solar  observation  taken  by  Alonzo  de  Leon,  at 
his  encampment  on  the  Guadalupe,  near  Fort  St.  Louis,  that 
place  was  situated  in  latitude  of  28  degrees  48  minutes,  which 
is  within  a  few  minutes  of  its  real  position.  Having  completed 
his  examination  of  the  spot,  and  buried  the  cannon,  he  continued 
his  march  along  the  south  shore  of  the  bay,  crossing  the  lagoons 
and  marshes  between  it  and  another  bay  farther  south ,  to  the 
coast  of  the  gulf,  where  he  found  the  wreck  of  the  Aimable.  He 
also  discovered  the  entrance  of  the  Guadalupe,  into  the  other  bay; 
and  then  returning  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  he  took  his  course  north-east 
along  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis  to  the  great  river,  now 
known  as  the  Colorado,  but  named  by  him  the  San  Marcos,  in 
honor  of  the  saint  on  whose  day,  April  25th,  it  wr^s  fast  seen. 


240  "RETURN    OF    ALONZO    DE    LEON    TO    MEXICO.          [1689. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  learned  from  the  Indians,  that  some 
of  the  French  were  still  living  among  the  tribes  farther  north  ; 
and  he  sent  messengers  with  letters  inviting  them  to  come  to  him. 
One  of  these  messengers  brought  back  a  letter,  signed  Jean 
L'Archeveque,  in  which  the  writer  promised  that  he  and  one  of 
his  companions,  Jacques  Grollet,  would  as  soon  as  opportunity 
should  be  offered,  deliver  themselves  to  the  Spanish  commander. 
Accordingly  on  the  1st  of  May,  these  two  men  appeared  at  the 
camp  on  the  San  Marcos,  dressed  and  painted  as  Indians,  and 
gave  themselves  up  to  the  Governor,  to  whom  they  related  what 
they  knew,  or  chose  to  tell,  respecting  the  proceedings  of  their 
countrymen  in  that  part  of  America.  They  said  that  after  more 
than  a  hundred  of  the  French  had  died  from  disease,  they  and 
some  others  had  gone  to  the  country  of  the  Cenis  farther  north; 
there  they  had  remained  until  a  few  months  previous,  when  learn 
ing  that  the  fort  had  been  taken  by  Indians,  and  its  inmates  put  to 
death,  they  had  returned  to  the  place,  which  they  found  in  ruins, 
and  had  buried  the  dead  bodies,  fourteen  in  number,  and  set  fire 
to  the  powder.  They  added  that  three  of  their  companions  who 
were  in  the  Cenis  country  when  the  fort  was  taken,  still  continu 
ed  there,  together  with  three  children,  wrho  were  spared  by  the 
savages  on  that  occasion.  Of  the  circumstances  attending  the 
murder  of  La  Salle,  in  which  L'Archeveque  had  taken  part,  they 
probably  said  nothing,  as  the  report  of  the  Spanish  commander 
does  not  mention  them. 

Alonzo  de  Leon,  having  been  thus  assured  of  the  destruction 
of  the  French  colony,  considered  it  unnecessary  to  proceed  far 
ther,  and  he  returned  to  Mexico,  just  at  the  time  when  Tonty 
was  making  his  way  back  from  the  Red  River,  to  the  Illinois,  as 
already  related.  The  Viceroy  of  New  Spain,  on  learning  the  par 
ticulars  of  the  expedition,  from  the  Governor  of  Coahuila,  and 
from  the  accounts  of  L'Archeveque  and  Grollet,  immediately  sent 
the  two  latter  persons  to  Spain,  under  the  charge  of  Don  Andres 
dePes,  who  was  instructed  to  urge  the  government  to  establish  forts 
and  settlements,  on  the  northern  sides  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  repetition  of  encroachments  by  other  nations 
on  those  territories.  Alonzo  de  Leon  was  moreover  directed  to 
make  another  expedition  through  the  regions  north  of  the  Rio 
Bravo;  with  which  object  he  again  crossed  that  river,  in  the 


1690.]  ORIGIN    OF    THE    NAME    OF    TEXAS.  241 

spring  of  1690.  Thence  proceeding  in  aline  farther  west  than 
that  first  pursued  by  him,  he  passed  the  great  river  now  called 
the  Brazos,  which  was  named  by  him  Rio  Colorado,  from  the 
extreme  redness  of  its  waters;  and  the  other  large  stream,  to 
which  he  gave  the  appellation  of  Rio  de  Trinidad,  or  the  Trinity, 
probably  the  Riviere  aux  Canots  of  the  French.  Beyond  this 
latter  river,  he  met  the  Qenis  Indians,  with  whom  he  made  a 
solemn  treaty;  and  their  chief,  on  declaring  his  submission  to  the 
king  of  Spain,  and  professing  a  desire  to  embrace  Christianity, 
was  duly  baptised  under  the  name  of  Bernardo,  and  appointed 
Governor  of  the  Province  of  Texas. 

This  appears  to  have  been  the  earliest  application  of  the  name 
of  Texas  to  a  country  in  America.  It  has  been  already  said, 
that  rumors  had  been  current,  ever  since  the  conquest  of  Mexico, 
of  the  existence  of  a  numerous  and  powerful  nation  of  Indians 
called  Texas  or  Teguas,  inhabiting  the  regions  north  of  the  Rio 
Bravo ;  and  Alonzo  de  Leon  thought  proper  to  consider  the  Ce- 
nis  as  this  nation,  from  having  found  in  their  language  the  word 
Teysas  or  Texas,  signifying  friends,  used  as  one  of  the  appella 
tions  of  their  principal  tribe.  The  name  of  Cenis  was  accord 
ingly  never  afterwards  employed  by  the  Spaniards ;  in  whose 
accounts  the  people  of  that  region  are  generally  termed  Texas, 
and  sometimes  Asinais.  These  people  were  in  fact  a  confederacy 
of  tribes,  of  wrhich  the  most  powerful  was  called  Taxus  and 
Ainais. 

From  the  country  of  the  Cenis  or  Texas,  the  Spaniards  con 
tinued  their  march  northward  to  that  of 'the  Cadodakios  on  the 
Red  River,  where  they  learned  that  many  white  men  had  been 
in  the  preceding  year,  distributing  knives,  beads,  and  crosses 
among  the  Indians,  and  endeavoring  to  excite  them  against  the 
Spaniards.  These  white  persons  were  no  doubt  Tonty  and  his 
companions:  Alonzo  de  Leon  used  every  means  in  his  power  to 
counteract  the  impressions  which  they  had  sought  to  produce ; 
and  not  considering  it  necessary  to  proceed  farther  north,  he  re 
turned  to  the  Cenis,  where  he  established  a  mission  of  Franciscan 
friars,  probably  near  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  town  of  Na-  * 
cogdoches.  He  also  succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  two 
Frenchmen,  Meunier  and  Breman,  and  of  the  eldest  son  of  Ta 
lon,  a  youth  of  seventeen,  through  whose  means  the  other  chil- 
31 


242       REFLECTIONS  ON  LA  SALLE's  ENTERPRISE.    [1687. 

dren  of  Talon  spared  by  the  Indians  on  the  capture  of  Fort  St. 
Louis  were  afterwards  recovered.  The  eldest  Talon  and  Meu- 
nier  were  left  at  the  mission  as  interpreters;  the  other  children, 
with  Breman,  were  carried  by  the  Governor  to  Mexico  in  the  lat 
ter  part  of  the  year.* 

Such  were  the  events  and  the  unfortunate  termination  of  this 
first  expedition  of  the  French  to  the  ^orthern  coasts  of  the  Mexi 
can  Gulf.  It  was  intended  as  shown  in  the  memorials  of  its  pro 
jector,  for  the  subjugation  of  the  northern  provinces  of  New 
Spain,  to  which  the  proposed  establishment  on  the  Mississippi, 
was  to  be  merely  subservient,  as  a  rendezvous  for  the  French 
from  Europe,  Canada,  or  St.  Domingo,  and  the  Indians  from  the 
surrounding  countries,  by  whom  the  conquest  was  to  be  effected : 
and  his  movements,  after  entering  the  gulf,  afford  strong  reason 
for  the  belief,  that  he  then  designed,  not  to  seek  the  mouth  of  the 
great  river,  but  to  place  his  forces  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
points  which  were  to  be  first  attacked,  whensoever  a  change  in 
the  relations  between  France  and  Spain  should  justify  it,  or  per 
haps,  whensoever  an  opportunity  should  be  presented  for  so  doing, 
with  a  prospect  of  success.  In  the  mere  establishment  of  the 
French  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  there  was  nothing  which  could  be 
justly  termed  illegal;  but  La  Salle  must  have  been  aware  that 
this  act  would  be  considered  by  the  Spanish  Government  as 
highly  criminal,  and  that  he  and  his  associates  would  become 
the  objects  of  the  unrelenting  vindictiveness  of  that  nation,  from 
which  they  could  only  expect  to  escape,  by  dishonorable  or  ca 
lamitous  retreat.  How  far  he  may  have  relied  on  promises  of 
farther  aid  from  France,  we  know  not:  there  is  however  no  evi 
dence  that  expectations  of  that  nature  were  entertained  by  him ; 

*  L'Archeveque  and  Grollet,  were  as  already  mentioned  carried  to  Spain  by 
Don  Andres  de  Pes,  and  were  brought  back  in  1692  to  Mexico,  where  they  and 
Breman  probably  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  prison  or  in  mines.  The 
three  eldest  sons  of  Talon,  were  placed  on  board  of  a  Spanish  ship,  in  which 
they  were  captured  by  the  French  in  1696,  and  restored  to  their  country ;  of  the 
other  §on  and  the  daughter,  all  that  is  known,  is  that  they  were  carried  to  Spain 
by  one  of  the  viceroys.  With  regard  to  those  who  remained  among  the  Indians, 
•we  only  learn  from  Dumont,  (Memoires  sur  la  Louisiane,)  that  in  1751,  an  old 
half-breed  was  residing  in  the  Red  river  country,  who  declared  himself  to  be  a 
son  of  Ruter ;  he  said  that  his  father  had  lived  to  a  great  age,  as  a  chief  of  one 
of  the  tribes  in  that  region,  whom  he  had  taught  many  arts,  and  particularly, 
the  use  of  sails  in  navigating  the  rivers. 


1686  ]    PROJECTS  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  AT  THIS  PERIOD.       243 

and  unless  they  were,  his  conduct  in  exposing  his  helpless  follow 
ers  to  the  certainty  of  suffering,  if  not  of  destruction,  without  any 
probability  of  advantage,  was  either  insane  or  highly  culpable. 

With  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  French  government,  in 
abandoning  these  people,  thus  sent  out  under  its  auspices,  to  a 
fate  so  certain  and  so  dreadful,  we  are  also  without  materials  for 
forming  a  judgment.  Louis  XIV.  and  his  Ministers  were  by  no 
means  indifferent  to  the  interests  of  their  nation  in  the  New  World ; 
and  their  neglect  of  La  Salle  and  his  followers  may  in  some  de 
gree,  have  proceeded  from  circumstances  constituting  a  strong,  if 
not  an  imperative  political  necessity  for  such  a  course.  The  am 
bitious  monarch  of  France  then  had  in  view  several  great  objects, 
of  which  the  principal  was,  to  secure  in  his  family  the  succession 
to  the  crown  of  Spain,  upon  the  decease  of  his  brother-in-law, 
the  reigning  sovereign  Charles  II.  For  this  end,  every  effort 
was  employed  to  conciliate  the  Spanish  King  and  his  nation ; 
and  if  the  French  Government  were  persuaded,  on  the  return  of 
Beaujeu — as  every  one  else  seems  to  have  been  soon  afterwards — 
that  La  Salle  proposed  to  subjugate  the  northern  provinces  of 
Mexico,  no  aid  or  countenance  could  have  been  given  to  his 
enterprise,  without  offending  Spain  so  deeply  as  to  endanger  the 
success  of  the  project,  for  placing  a  Bourbon  Prince  on  the  throne 
of  that  country.  Such  considerations  may  have  prevented  the 
despatch  of  succors  to  the  colony  on  the  Mexican  Gulf;  but  those 
unfortunate  people,  were  more  probably  forgotten,  amid  the  cares 
which  oppressed  the  government  of  France  at  that  momentous 
period. 

The  magnificent  Louis,  had  then  extinguished  nearly  every 
spark  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  throughout  his  dominions:  one 
thing  however  remained  to  be  done,  in  order  to  render  his  au 
thority  absolute.  A  large  and  industrious  portion  of  his  sub 
jects  wTere  Protestants,  who,  though  restricted  and  persecuted  in 
various  ways,  still  enjoyed  a  certain  degree  of  freedom  of  con 
science  and  of  worship,  in  virtue  of  some  unrepealed  provisions 
of  the  edict  for  their  protection,  issued  by  Henry  IV.  at  Nantes, 
in  1598.  On  the  22d  of  October,  1685,  this  edict  was  entirely 
revoked;  and  decrees  at  the  same  time  appeared,  requiring  the 
immediate  submission  of  all  persons  in  France,  to  the  faith  and 
forms  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  under  penalties  the  most  cruel  and 


244  REVOCATION    OF    THE    EDICT    OF    NANTES.  [1685. 

revolting  to  humanity.  A  small  number  of  the  Huguenots  com 
plied  with  these  requisitions;  others  fled  with  their  families  to  the 
mountains  of  the  Cevennes,  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom,  where 
they  maintained  their  independence  by  their  swords  for  several 
years :  but  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  \vere  driven  forth, 
to  die  in  misery,  or  to  enrich  other  lands  by  their  virtues,  their 
intelligence  and  their  mechanical  skill.  Many  of  the  exiles  sought 
refuge  in  the  English  provinces  in  America;  and  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  families  in  New  York,  Virginia  and  jSouth 
Carolina,  trace  their  descent  with  pride,  from  those  victims  of 
despotism  and  intolerance. 

Encouraged  by  the  fortunate  results  which  Louis  had  thus  ob 
tained  in  France,  his  cousin,  James  II.,  who  had  succeeded  Charles 
II.  on  the  throne  of  England  in  1685,  endeavored  three  years  after 
wards,  to  introduce  the  same  system  into  his  kingdom.  His  en 
tire  failure,  his  expulsion  from  England,  and  the  election  of  his 
son-in-law  William  of  Orange  in  his  place,  are  well  known.  No 
less  vain  and  ineffectual  were  the  efforts  of  James,  to  bring  the 
American  colonies,  like  New  France,  under  the  control  of  a 
Governor  General,  unshackled  by  charters  and  legislatures :  and 
had  the  issue  of  the  contest  in  the  mother  country  been  different, 
the  independence  of  those  colonies  would  have  certainly  been 
dated  from  1689  instead  of  1776. 

Louis  espoused  the  cause  of  the  exiled  James  II.  and  a  war 
ensued,  in  which  England,  the  United  Provinces,  the  emperor  of 
Germany,  and  the  king  of  Spain,  were  all  soon  joined  in  alliance 
against  France :  and  when  the  particulars  of  La  Salle's  expedi 
tion,  and  the  fate  of  those  engaged  in  it,  became  known  in  Eu 
rope,  the  public  mind  was  too  much  engrossed  by  victories,  de 
feats  and  negotiations,  to  pay  any  attention  to  matters  of  so  little 
comparative  moment,  as  those  concerning  a  few  vagabonds,  un 
der  an  unknown  leader,  rambling  and  perishing  in  a  country  of 
which  no  one  had  any  distinct  idea.* 

*  The  first  accounts  of  these  circumstances,  were  brought  to  Europe  by  Cave- 
lier,  Joutel  and  Father  Anastase,  in  1688;  but  very  little  was  known  of  them, 
previous  to  the  publication  of  the  "  Premiere  Etablissement  de  la  Foy  dans  la 
Nouvelle  France,"  by  Father  Chrestien  Le  Clercq,  of  which  a  particular  notice 
has  been  already  given. 


1689.]  CHARACTER    OF  LA   SALLE.  245 

The  melancholy  circumstances  that  attend  the  death  of  the 
Sieur  de  La  Salle  have  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  all  in  his 
behalf;  and  biographers  and  historians  have  vied  with  each 
other,  in  endeavoring  to  place  his  character  in  the  most  favora 
ble  point  of  view,  and  to  enhance  the  importance  of  his 
services  in  the  exploration  and  settlement  of  the  Mississippi 
regions  and  those  adjacent  on  the  south-west.  Yet,  if  the  ac 
counts  above  presented  be  correct,  little  will  be  found  worthy  of 
admiration,  either  in  the  constitution  of  his  mind,  as  shown  by 
his  conduct,  or  in  his  objects,  so  far  as  they  have  been  brought  to 
light.  Courage  and  perseverance  he  certainly  possessed,  but  these 
qualities  were  neutralized  by  an  overweening  confidence  in  his  own 
judgment  and  capacity,  leading  him  not  only  to  treat  with  indiffer 
ence  and  disdain  the  opinions  of  others  on  all  points,  but  also  to  re 
ject  or  neglect  those  precautions,  the  proper  estimation  and  use  of 
which  are  essential  to  success  in  all  enterprises.  He  seems,  indeed, 
never  to  have  clearly  defined  his  own  intentions;  it  is  otherwise  dif 
ficult  to  account  for  the  singular  want  of  adaptation  of  his  means  to 
the  end  apparently  in  view,  or  to  any  others  of  a  reasonable  nature. 
In  his  expeditions  from  Canada  to  the  Mississippi,  his  forces  were 
greater  on  each  occasion  than  could  have  been  required  for  mere 
exploration,  while  they  were  wholly  insufficient  for  any  purpose  of 
occupation;  and  his  last  enterprise  was  undertaken  with  means 
in  every  respect  inadequate  to  carry  out  the  simplest  preliminary 
measures  proposed  by  him  to  his  government,  much  less  to  effect 
the  grand  objects  of  conquest  and  commercial  communication, 
towards  which  his  mind  seems  to  have  been  wildly  directed. 

These  considerations  appear  to  authorize  doubts  as  to  the 
propriety  of  assigning  to  La  Salle,  at  the  present  day,  a  posi 
tion  in  American  history,  which  he  certainly  did  not  enjoy 
among  his  cotemporaries  ;  and  which  nothing  that  has  been 
since  learned  of  his  character,  objects,  or  acts,  is  calculated 
to  strengthen.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that  he 
possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  virtues  of  benevolence  and 
generosity,  so  rarely  found  combined  with  ambition  and  self- 
confidence  ;  and  upon  the  whole,  he  deserves  to  be  regard 
ed  among  the  good,  rather  than  among  the  great  men,  who 
have  employed  their  energies  in  the  discovery  and  settlement  of 
the  New  World. 


CHAPTER    VIII 


1690    TO     1712. 


WAR  IN  EUROPE  ENDED  BY  THE  TREATY  OF  RYSWICK — FOUN 
DATION  OF  PENSACOLA — SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  FRENCH  UN 
DER  IBERVILLE  AND  BIENVILLE  ON  THE  NORTHERN  SIDE  OF 
THE  MEXICAN  GULF,  NEAR  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI 
— FOUNDATION  OF  BILOXY  AND  MOBILE — WAR  OF  THE 
SPANISH  SUCCESSION,  INVOLVING  THE  ENGLISH,  FRENCH 
AND  SPANISH  COLONIES  IN  AMERICA — HOSTILITIES  IN 
FLORIDA. 

WE  now  approach  the  period,  when  settlements  of  a  permanent 
character  were  made  in  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  northern 
sides  of  the  Mexican  Gulf;  and  that  portion  of  America  began, 
in  consequence,  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  great  European 
nations  which  already  held  dominion  in  the  New  World. 

The  war  begun  in  1689,  between  France  and  England,  soon 
involved  their  colonies  in  America,  notwithstanding  the  provision 
in  the  treaty,  concluded  three  years  previous,  that  those  countries 
should  remain  neutral  in  the  event  of  a  rupture  of  the  peace. 
Indeed,  at  the  very  time  when  that  treaty  was  signed,  a  party  of 
French  from  Canada  took  forcible  possession  of  several  English 
establishments  on  Hudson's  Bay ;  and  before  the  declaration  of 
the  war,  Count  de  Frontenac  had  been  restored  to  his  position  as 
Governor  General  of  New  France,  with  orders  to  invade  and 
conquer  New  York,  of  which  M.  de  Callieres  had  actually  been 
appointed  the  Governor. 

This  latter  project  was  entirely  defeated,  by  the  unexpected 
irruption  of  the  Iroquois  into  Canada,  where  they  burnt  Montreal, 
and  put  to  death  nearly  all  its  inhabitants  in  August,  1689  ;  and 
the  armament  under  Frontenac,  then  entering  the  St.  Lawrence, 
was  wasted  away  in  efforts  to  retrieve  the  losses  consequent  upon 


1690.]  WAR    BETWEEN    THE    FRENCH    AND    ENGLISH.  247 

that  misadventure.  The  great  naval  expedition  of  the  English 
against  Quebec,  in  the  following  year,  proved  equally  ineffective; 
the  attack  on  that  city  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  whole  fleet 
under  Phipps  was  lost  or  dispersed  by  storms  in  the  St.  Law 
rence.  Acadie  was  conquered  by  the  people  of  New  England ; 
but  it  was  soon  regained  by  the  French,  who  moreover  obtained 
possession  of  Newfoundland,  and  the  whole  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  countries,  which  they  held  until  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 

The  other  events  of  this  contest  in  America  were  of  little  im 
portance.  Fortunately  for  the  English  and  French  colonies,  ob 
stacles  nearly  insuperable,  prevented  them  from  doing  much  in 
jury  to  each  other.  The  settlements  of  the  two  nations  were 
separated  by  wide  tracts  of  territory,  covered  by  forests,  and  in 
habited  by  warlike  Indians,  who  hated  both  parties  as  intruders, 
and  whom  it  was  indispensable  for  either  to  conciliate,  ere  any 
hostile  movement  could  be  commenced  against  the  other;  and  as 
provisions  sufficient  for  large  bodies  of  men,  on  a  long  march, 
could  neither  be  carried  nor  be  obtained  on  the  way,  these  expe 
ditions  were  generally  on  a  very  small  scale,  and  seldom  led  to  re 
sults  more  material  than  the  destruction  of  some  frontier  post  or 
settlement. 

The  enmity  of  the  Troquois  to  the  French,  encouraged  in 
every  way  by  the  English  traders,  caused  many  and  long 
interruptions  of  intercourse  between  the  St.  Lawrence  coun 
tries  and  those  of  the  Upper  Lakes.  La  Motte  Cadillac  at 
Mackinac,  and  Tonty  at  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois,  aided  by  the 
Jesuits,  who  had  returned  to  those  regions,  however,  succeeded 
in  maintaining  their  positions;  and  after  some  rude  combats  w~ith 
the  natives,  the  predominance  of  the  French  was  finally  estab 
lished.  A  number  of  Canadians  were  at  the  same  time  engaged 
in  trade  in  that  part  of  America,  one  of  whom,  M.  le  Sueur,  dis 
covered  the  rich  mines  of  copper  and  lead,  which  now  give  so 
much  importance  to  the  countries  about  Lake  Michigan,  in  addi 
tion  to  their  agricultural  advantages  ;  and  a  hardy  class  of  men, 
called  coureurs  de  bois,  were  growing  up,  composed  chiefly  of 
half-breeds,  the  offspring  of  Frenchmen  and  Indian  women,  who, 
subsequently,  proved  very  useful  in  the  exploration  and  settlement 
of  the  Mississippi  regions. 

Thus  the  French  and  English  colonies,  on  the  whole,  suffered 


245  CAROLINA    HARRASSED    BY    INDIANS.  [1690. 

little  by  the  war;  and  those  of  the  latter  nation,  south  of  New 
York,  scarcely  felt  any  inconvenience  from  it.  The  settlements 
in  Carolina,  however,  began  already  to  be  annoyed  by  the  In 
dians  in  their  vicinity,  particularly  by  the  Catawbas,  and  the 
Cherokees  of  the  upper  country,  of  whom  the  latter  were,  no 
doubt,  the  same  people,  called  Chalaque,  in  the  accounts  of  the 
expedition  of  Soto.  The  Yamassees,  inhabiting  the  coasts  and 
islands  between  Charleston  and  St.  Augustine,  had  been  also,  at 
first,  inimical  to  the  English,  against  whom  every  means  was  em 
ployed  by  the  Spaniards,  to  excite  the  hostility  of  the  Indians; 
but  in  1686,  Cabrera  the  Governor  of  Florida,  having  seized  and 
put  to  death  one  of  the  principal  Yamassee  chiefs,  named  Nico- 
satly,  those  savages  rose  in  a  body  in  the  following  year,  and  de 
stroyed  all  the  Spanish  settlements  and  forts  north  of  the  river 
San  Matheo;  after  which  they  remained  for  flirty  years  the  firm 
friends  of  the  English.  With  the  great  confederacy  of  the  Mus- 
coghees,  afterwards  called  Creeks,  who  extended  from  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Savannah  and  the  Alatamaha  westward  to  those  of 
the  Alabama,  the  people  of  Carolina  soon  formed  relations  of 
commerce  and  friendship,  which  the  Spaniards  were  unable  to 
break,  as  they  could  offer  the  Indians  neither  presents,  nor  trade, 
nor  protection  in  return. 

Spain  joined  the  coalition  against  France  in  1690,  and  she,  in 
consequence  suffered  many  calamities  in  the  West  Indies,  where 
the  war  was  conducted  with  much  determination  on  all  sides. 
Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  hostilities  in  that  quarter, 
Don  Andres  de  Pes  arrived  at  Madrid,  whither  he  had  been  dis 
patched  by  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  solicit  authority  for  the  es 
tablishment  of  forts  and  colonies  in  the  territories  north  of  the 
Rio  Bravo  ;  and  after  much  delay,  he  at  length  obtained  orders  to 
that  effect,  on  the  condition,  however,  that  the  remittances  from 
Mexico  to  the  mother  country  should  not  suffer  any  diminution 
in  consequence.  The  Viceroy,  thus  limited,  could  only  take  pre 
paratory  measures,  in  the  hope  that  they  might  be  followed  by 
others  more  efficient;  and  with  that  object  he  commissioned  Don 
Domingo  Teran  de  los  Rios,  to  examine  the  interior  of  the  ter 
ritories  above  mentioned,  and  select  proper  spots  for  settlements, 
whilst  two  vessels  should  survey  the  coast  northward  from 
Panuco,  in  search  of  a  position  for  a  naval  establishment. 


1691.]         EXPEDITION  OF  TERAN  TO  TEXAS.  249 

The  vessels  under  Captain  Martinez,  quitted  Vera  Cruz  in  the 
spring  of  1691,  and  examining  the  coasts  on  their  way,  they 
reached  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis  or  San  Bernardo,  where  they  lay 
until  the  arrival  of  the  land  forces.  Teran  departed  from  Coa- 
huila,  in  May  of  the  same  year,  with  a  large  party  of  soldiers  and 
priests,  and  following  the  route  of  Alonzo  de  Leon  he  crossed 
the  Nueces  early  in  June.  Thence  he  continued  his  march  clue 
north  to  the  Medina,  and  passing  it  he  discovered  immediately 
beyond,  a  rich  and  beautiful  valley,  traversed  by  a  crystal  stream, 
bursting  from  the  side  of  a  hill,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
San  Antonio,  in  honor  of  that  saint,  on  whose  day,  June  13,  it 
was  first  seen.  Having  spent  some  time  in  examining  this  place, 
where  he  found  all  that  could  be  required  for  an  interior  settle 
ment,  he  continued  his  progress  towards  the  north-east;  and 
crossing,  in  succession,  the  rivers  named  by  Alonzo  de  Leon,  the 
Guadalupe,  the  San  Marcos,  (now  the  Colorado,)  the  Colorado, 
^now  the  Brazos)  and  the  Trinity,  he,  in  August,  arrived  at  the 
missions  of  the  Cenis  country,  which  were  in  a  prosperous  con 
dition.  There  he  spent  some  weeks  in  exploring;  but  his  men 
were  seized  with  fevers,  and  his  provisions  being  insufficient,  he 
removed  his  quarters  southward  to  the  Bay  of  San  Bernardo, 
where  he  obtained  supplies  from  the  vessels,  and  was  thus  ena 
bled  to  return  to  the  north.  In  December  he  reached  the  river  of 
the  Cadodakios,  (now  the  Red  river,)  where  a  council  of  officers 
and  priests  was  called  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  should  at 
tempt  to  descend  the  stream  to  its  mouth  :  and  it  being  resolved 
that  this  could  not  be  done  without  great  hazard,  the  whole  party 
marched  back  to  the  Cenis  country.  Disputes  then  took  place 
between  the  commandant  and  the  missionaries,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  latter  refused  to  remain  longer  in  that  region ;  and  the 
Spaniards,  repaired,  accordingly  to  the  Bay  of  San  Bernardo,  where 
they  all  embarked  for  Vera  Cruz,  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1692.* 

This  expedition  was  to  have  been  followed  by  the  immediate 
establishment  of  Spanish  colonies  in  Texas,  for  which  the 
Count  de  Galve  began  preparations,  on  a  scale  as  extended  as  his 
means  would  allow,  in  virtue  of  farther  authorization  received 

*  The  concise  account  here  presented,  embraces  all  that  is  worthy  of  note  in 
the  voluminous  journal  of  the  expedition  of  Teran,  of  which  a  copy  in  manu 
script  is  now  before  the  author  of  this  history. 

32 


250  FOUNDATION  OF  PENSACOLA.  [1693. 

from  Madrid.  A  formidable  insurrection,  however,  at  that  mo 
ment  broke  out  among  the  Indians  in  the  City  of  Mexico  and  its 
vicinity,  in  the  course  of  which  the  palace  and  other  public  build 
ings  were  destroyed;  and  considerable  expenses  being  more 
over  rendered  necessary  for  the  re-conquest  of  New  Mexico, 
where  the  Spanish  dominion  had  been,  as  already  said,  entirely 
overthrown  by  the  natives  in  1689,  the  execution  of  the  projects 
above  mentioned,  was  in  consequence,  deferred. 

In  the  meantime  the  Spanish  government  had  resolved  to 
abandon  St.  Augustine,  and  to  transfer  all  the  materials  and  gar 
risons  to  the  northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  Apprehensions, 
however,  arising,  that  the  English  might  seize  on  the  places  thus 
relinquished,  it  was  considered  more  prudent  to  retain  them, 
though  the  occupation  of  the  countries  farther  west  was  to  be 
carried  into  effect;  and  orders  were  accordingly  sent  to  the  Vice 
roy  of  Mexico,  to  form  a  naval  establishment,  and  colony  in 
the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  or  Achusi,*  of  which  the  most  favorable 
descriptions  were  found,  in  the  documents  connected  with  the  ex 
pedition  of  Tristan  de  Luna  y  Arellano  in  1560. 

The  superintendence  of  these  operations  was  committed  to 
Don  Andres  de  Pes,  who,  immediately  proceeded  to  Mexico,  car 
rying  back  with  him  the  two  French  prisoners,  Larcheveque  and 
Grollet.  The  disturbances  in  that  country  had  been  soon  quelled, 
though  great  devastation  was  committed  in  the  capital  and  its 
environs  ;  and  Pes,  after  a  short  time  employed  in  preparations, 
sailed  in  March  1693,  with  a  frigate  and  a  schooner  carrying  sol 
diers,  workmen,  priests  and  materials  for  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria. 
He  reached  that  place  on  the  4th  of  April,  and  rinding  it,  on  ex 
amination,  well  worthy  of  the  commendations  bestowed  on  it  by 
Arellano,  he  began  a  fort  on  the  western  side  of  the  entrance, 
which  was  called  the  Castle  of  San  Carlos  in  honor  of  the  king. 
The  name  given  to  the  bay  by  Arellano,  was  too  sacred  to  be 
changed;  but  the  title  of  the  Viceroy  was  appended  to  it,  and  in 
subsequent  Spanish  histories  and  documents,  it  is  usually  termed 
the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria  de  Galve.  It  is  an  extensive  sheet  of 
water  joining  the  Gulf  on  its  north-eastern  side,  in  latitude  of 
30  degrees  21  minutes,  and  thence  stretching  by  two  arms  north- 

*  Achusi  was  probably  Hatchusee  or  Hutchusee,  meaning  a  Little  river,  in 
the  language  of  the  aborigines  of  that  part  of  America. 


1693.]  PEACE    OF    KYSWICK.  251 

ward  to  the  distance  of  more  than  twenty  miles;  it  admits  large 
vessels  of  war,  to  which  secure  anchorage  is  afforded,  and  on  the 
whole  it  presents  advantages  for  a  naval  station  superior  to  any 
other  place  in  the  Gulf,  except  Havanna.  The  Spaniards  appre 
ciating  these  advantages,  endeavored  to  secure  them,  by  increas 
ing  the  fortifications,  and  by  the  settlement  of  a  town  on  the 
western  side  of  the  bay,  which  was  called  Panzacola  or  Pensa- 
cola,  from  the  Panshacoola*  Indians  inhabiting  the  adjacent 
country ;  but  there,  as  at  St.  Augustine,  every  thing  was  done 
in  so  languid  and  inefficient  a  manner,  that  the  occupation  was 
for  a  long  period  merely  nominal. 

Whether  the  Spaniards  at  that  time  held  any  other  points  on 
the  northern  shore  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  is  uncertain.  It  is  proba 
ble  that  they  had  some  small  forts  and  missions  on  the  Bay  of 
Apalache  and  in  the  adjoining  country;  though  none  of  them  are 
mentioned,  in  the  very  particular  accounts  which  have  been  pre 
served  of  the  proceedings  of  that  nation  in  Florida,  at  the  period 
in  question.  The  expenses  of  the  establishment  on  the  Bay  of 
Santa  Maria,  were  such  as  to  prevent  any  further  attempts  from 
being  made  for  the  extension  of  the  Spanish  dominion  north  of 
the  Rio  Bravo;  and  those  countries  remained  unoccupied  for 
twenty-three  years  longer,  during  which  interval,  they  were  visit 
ed  only  by  a  few  missionaries  and  vagabonds  from  Mexico. 

The  war  in  Europe  was,  meanwhile,  conducted  on  a  scale  of 
grandeur  and  desolation  worthy  of  the  powerful  sovereigns  en 
gaged  in  it;  yet,  at  the  end  of  seven  years,  they  all  remained 
nearly  in  the  same  relative  positions  as  at  the  commencement. 
Negotiations  were  then  begun,  and  in  September,  1697,  various 
treaties  of  peace  were  concluded  between  the  belligerants,  atRys- 
wick,  in  Holland.  William  of  Orange  was  recognised  as  sover 
eign  of  England  and  its  dependencies,  by  Louis  XIV.,  who  en 
gaged,  never  in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  aid  the  ene 
mies  of  the  former  prince.  With  regard  to  America,  it  was 
agreed  between  France  and  England,  that  all  territories  taken  by 
either  nation  from  the  other,  since  the  declaration  of  the  war, 
should  be  restored,  including  even  the  posts  on  Hudson's  Bay, 
which  had  been  captured  by  the  French  during  peace,  and  though 

*  Pansh-acoola  meant  Hairy-people  ;  being  compounded  of  Panshe,  Hair,  and 
Acoola,  or  Agoola,  or  Ookla,  as  variously  pronounced,  signifying  a  Nation. 


252  TREATIES  OF  RYSWICK.  [1697. 

recaptured  by  the  English,  were  to  be  given  up  to  France  ;  and 
that  commissioners  should  be  appointed  by  each  power,  to  ascer 
tain  the  true  limits  of  their  co-terminous  possessions,  and  to  re 
commend  such  exchanges  as  might  be  advantageous  to  both. 
By  the  treaty  between  France  and  Spain,  all  places  taken  by 
either  party  from  the  other  were,  in  like  manner  to  be  restored, 
with  certain  exceptions  specially  mentioned,  none  of  them,  how 
ever,  relating  to  the  New  World.  It  is  stated  by  some  historians,* 
that,  on  this  occasion,  Spain  formally  surrendered  to  France  all 
her  claims  to  the  western  part  of  Hispaniola  or  St.  Domingo ; 
but  this  is  incorrect,  though,  the  surrender  might  be  clearly  in 
ferred  from  the  silence  of  the  treaty  on  that  point,  particularly  as 
the  country  was  not  again  directly  claimed  by  Spain. 

The  stipulation  in  the  treaty  between  France  and  England  for  the 
determination  of  the  boundaries  in  America  was,  no  doubt,  merely 
a  diplomatic  expedient,  to  defer  the  discussion  of  questions,  which 
were  not  considered  immediately  important,  but  on  which  neither 
party  was  willing  to  make  any  concession  of  its  claims ;  and  each 
remained  at  liberty,  to  employ  such  measures  as  it  might  judge 
necessary,  to  enlarge  its  own  dominions,  until  another  war  should 
put  an  end  to  the  existing  arrangement.  Commissioners  were 
appointed  according  to  the  treaty,  but  they  could  agree  upon 
nothing :  the  French  insisted  that  Acadie  embraced  the  whole 
country  east  of  the  Kennebeck,  while  the  English  claimed  all 
west  of  the  St.  Croix  as  belonging  to  New  England,  alleging 
that  Acadie  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  their  province  of  Nova 
Scotia,  of  which  that  river  was  the  western  boundary ;  and  each 
nation  wished  to  exclude  the  other  from  the  whole  Iroquois  re 
gion.  Under  such  circumstances,  all  compromise  was  impracti 
cable,  and  the  questions  remained  unsettled. 

No  attention  had  been  given  by  the  French,  or  English  govern 
ments,  to  the  countries  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  whilst  the  war 
was  in  progress ;  the  efforts  of  each  party  being  then  directed 
especially  to  the  acquisition  of  the  regions  on  the  southern  sides 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Ontario,  which  were  considered 
far  more  important.  Tonty  was  suffered  to  remain  with  a  small 
garrison  in  the  Illinois,  where  he  rendered  great  services,  as  al- 

*  Burke,  in  his  account  of  the  European  settlements  in  America,  Part  V. 


1697.]  NEW    WORKS    OF    FRIAR    HENNEPIN.  253 

ready  shown,  by  counteracting  the  influence  of  the  English;  and 
some  Jesuits  were  engaged  in  establishing  missions  in  those  coun 
tries,  of  which  the  earliest  seems  to  have  been  that  of  St.  Joseph, 
founded  by  Father  Allouez,  about  the  year  1695,  among  the  Pota- 
watamies  on  the  Miami,  or  St.  Joseph's  river,  emptying  into  the 
south-east  part  of  Lake  Michigan.  These  were  the  only  Euro 
pean  establishments  of  any  kind  in  the  whole  division  of  the  con 
tinent,  traversed  by  streams  entering  the  Mexican  Gulf,  between 
Pensacola  and  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Bravo  ;  the  English  traders 
had,  probably,  penetrated  westward  from  Carolina  and  Virginia 
to  the  Mississippi,*  though  no  positive  accounts  have  been  pre 
served  of  any  of  their  expeditions. 

Immediately  after  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  attention  of  the 
public  in  Europe  was  again  directed  towards  the  Mississippi  and 
its  territories,  by  several  works,  especially  by  those  from  the  pen 
of  Friar  Hennepin,f  who  had  resided,  for  several  years  previous,  in 
exile  and  obscurity  in  Holland.  In  these  works,  the  Friar  pro 
fessed  to  describe  the  whole  interior  division  of  North  America, 
from  personal  observation  :  assuming  to  himself  the  merit  of  the 
first  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  head  waters  to  the  Gulf, 
during  the  summer  of  1680,  when  he  wras  sent  by  La  Salle  to  ex 
amine  the  upper  portion  ;  and  setting  aside  entirely  the  claims  of 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  as  founded  on  false  statements,  and  those 
of  La  Salle  as  posterior  in  date  to  his  own.  Hennepin  moreover 

*  Mitchell  in  his  Map  of  North  America,  published  at  London  in  1755,  pre 
sents  a  line  extending  from  the  Savannah,  westward,  to  the  Mississippi,  as  the 
route  of  Colonel  Welch  in  1698. 

f  The  first  of  these  works  was  entitled  "Nouvelle  decouverte  d'un  tres  grand 
pays  situ£  dans  1'Amerique,"  published  at  Amsterdam  in  1697,  and  in  English 
in  the  following  year  at  London,  under  the  name  of  "  A  New  Discovery  of 
a  Vast  Country  in  America."  This  is  a  second  version  of  Hennepin's  first 
work  published  in  1683,  as  already  mentioned  (page  197,)  containing  his  real 
adventures  and  discoveries  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  in  1680,  with  the  interpo 
lation  of  false  accounts  of  his  pretended  voyage  down  that  river  to  its  mouth, 
in  the  same  year.  The  particulars  of  the  latter  portions  are  gathered  from 
Le  Clercq,  and  are  introduced  in  so  bungling  a  manner,  as  to  lead  to  the  suspi 
cion,  that  the  author's  mind  must  have  been  disordered  when  he  wrote  them. 

Hennepin's  last  work,  which  he  calls  his  third  volume,  entitled  "Continuation 
de  la  Nouvelle  decouverte,"  published  at  Utrecht  in  1698,  and  in  England,  as  a 
"  Continuation  of  the  New  Discovery  of  a  Vast  Country  in  America,"  contains 
an  account  of  La  Salle's  expedition  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  derived  from  Tonty 
and  Le  Clercq,  with  descriptions  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Indians. 


254  DR.    COXE    AND    CAROLANA.  [1698. 

asserted,  that  he  had  been  assured  of  the  existence  of  a  direct  and 
easy  route  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific;  and  he  declared 
his  readiness  to  conduct  an  expedition  thither  for  the  King  of 
England,  to  whom  he  had  dedicated  his  works,  and  for  whom  he 
professed  the  utmost  attachment  and  respect.  The  innumerable 
and  evident  falsehoods  and  contradictions,  with  which  these  books 
abound,  though  intermingled  with  much  that  is  curious  and  inter 
esting,  should  have  prevented  any  reliance  from  being  placed  in 
the  declarations  and  promises  of  the  author:  they,  however, 
attracted  much  notice,  especially  in  England,  where  translations 
were  immediately  published ;  and  they  led  to  the  revival  of  an 
old  pretension  on  the  part  of  that  nation,  while  they  also  had 
some  effect,  in  producing  the  measures  adopted  at  the  same  time 
by  the  French,  with  regard  to  the  Mississippi  regions. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned,  that  King  Charles  I.  of  England, 
granted  in  1629,  to  Sir  Robert  Heath,  the  wrhole  division  of  North 
America,  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  between  the 
31st  and  the  36th  parallels  of  latitude,  under  the  name  of  the 
Province  of  Carolana;  and  that  this  patent  having  become  void, 
from  non-fulfilment  of  the  conditions,  the  same  countries  were, 
subsequently,  conceded  to  other  persons,  who  established  in 
them  the  province  of  Carolina.  Dr.  Daniel  Coxe,  an  eminent 
physician  of  London,  however,  many  years  afterwards,  obtained 
possession  of  the  patent  to  Heath;  and  considering  the  rights 
thus  con^yed  as  still  valid,  at  least  with  regard  to  the  territories 
west  of  those  actually  occupied  by  the  proprietors  of  Carolina, 
he,  with  the  assent  of  the  government,  fitted  out  three  vessels  at 
his  own  expense,  which  he  dispatched  from  London  in  1698,  pro 
vided  with  all  that  was  required  to  form  a  settlement  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  These  vessels  sailed  for  Charleston,  where 
two  of  them,  having  taken  on  board  a  number  of  refugee  French 
Protestants  as  colonists,  proceeded  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  in 
search  of  the  Mississippi;  but  ere  they  reached  that  river,  the 
French  had  already  made  an  establishment  in  its  vicinity,  of 
which  an  account  will  be  first  presented. 

In  France,  the  project  of  occupying  a  position  on  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  appears  to  have  been  revived  by  the  representations  of 
the  Conde  de  Penalosa,  a  discontented  Spaniard,  who  is  errone 
ously  termed,  in  the  accounts  of  that  period,  an  ex-viceroy  of 


1698.]          COMMISSION    GRANTED    TO    M.    D'lBERVILLE.  £55 

Mexico.  This  person  produced  a  map  and  a  memoir,  tending  to 
show,  that  great  facilities  would  be  offered  for  trade  with  the 
northern  provinces  of  Mexico,  and  even  with  the  Pacific,  by  the 
foundation  of  a  French  settlement  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mis 
sissippi;  and  as  the  colony  of  St.  Domingo  was  then  beginning 
to  prosper,  by  the  cultivation  of  sugar,  it  was  conceived  that  such 
a  settlement  might  prove  advantageous,  by  supplying  that  island 
as  well  as  the  mother  country  with  many  articles  of  which  they 
were  in  want,  or  which  might  prove  advantageous  to  their  com 
merce.  A  commission  was  accordingly  granted,  on  his  urgent 
request,  to  Pierre  Lemoine  d'Iberville,*  a  Canadian  by  birth,  and 
a  captain  in  the  French  navy,  who  had  distinguished  himself 
greatly  by  his  skill  and  gallantry  during  the  late  war,  authori 
sing  him — to  plant  colonies,  and  to  maintain  garrisons,  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  king,  for  the  preservation  of  the  French  dominion, 
over  the  countries  claimed  and  occupied  by  M.  de  la  Salle,  ex 
tending  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  between  Carolina  on  the  east,  and 
Old  and  New  Mexico  on  the  west — to  establish  factories  for 
trade  with  the  natives  in  furs,  skins  and  other  articles,  and — par 
ticularly,  to  seek  for  mines  and  places  where  pearls  or  precious 
stones  might  be  obtained. f 

*  The  important  parts  borne  by  Iberville  and  his  brothers,  in  the  settlement  of 
Louisiana,  renders  some  account  of  their  family  interesting,  if  not  necessary,  in 
a  history  of  that  country. 

The  founder  of  this  Canadian  family  was  Jacques  Lemoine,  the  son  of  an  inn 
keeper  of  Dieppe,  who  came  to  Canada  in  1640,  while  a  youth,  in  the'*3rvice  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  there  acquired  a  large  fortune  by  his  skill  and  industry  as  a 
trader.  He  died  in  1685,  leaving  many  sons,  each  of  whom,  according  to  usage, 
bore  the  title  of  one  of  the  estates  of  the  family.  Of  these  sons,  three,  Messrs. 
de  Mericourt,  St.  Helene  and  Bienville  were  killed  in  battle  near  Quebec,  when 
Canada  was  invaded  by  the  English  in  1690.  M.  d'Iberville,  another  son,  dis 
tinguished  himself,  particularly  in  the  capture  of  the  English  establishments  on 
Hudson's  Bay  and  Newfoundland,  and  in  the  expedition  led  by  him  in  1690, 
against  the  English  settlements  on  the  Mohawk,  where  he  destroyed  Schenectady. 
Of  Iberville's  subsequent  career,  much  will  be  said,  but  more  of  that  of  his 
brother,  Bienville,  (the  second  of  that  name,)  to  whom  the  French  colony 
in  Louisiana  in  fact  owed  its  subsistence,  during  the  hard  trials  of  its  infancy. 
The  eldest  son  of  the  family  was  ennobled  by  Louis  XIV.,  who  bestowed  on  him 
the  title  of  Baron  de  Longueil ;  his  descendants  in  the  female  line,  composing 
the  families  of  Grant  and  Montenach,  of  Montreal,  are  believed  to  be  the  only 
living  representatives  of  the  many  children  of  Jacques  Lemoine  of  Dieppe. 

f  See  the  preamble  to  the  charter  granted,  in  1712,  by  Louis  XIV.  to  Crozat, 
of  which  a  translation  will  be  found  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the 
latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  F. 


256  EARLY    HISTORIES    OF    LOUISIANA.  [1698. 

In  order  to  carry  these  objects  into  effect,*  Iberville  was  fur 
nished  in  the  first  instance,  with  two  armed  vessels,  commanded 
respectively,  by  himself,  and  M.  de  Surgere,  and  two  small  schoon- 

*  The  principal  authorities  with  regard  to  the  early  proceedings  of  the  French 
in  the  settlement  of  Louisiana  are  the  following : 

"  Journal  Historique  de  la  Louisiane,"  a  history  of  Louisiana,  in  the  form  of 
a  journal,  by  Bernard  de  la  Harpe,  a  French  officer,  who  served  in  Louisiana 
from  1718  to  1723,  and  during  that  period  compiled  these  accounts  from  private 
journals,  the  registers  of  the  colony,  and  his  own  notes.  Notwithstanding  its  nu 
merous  inaccuracies,  respecting  events  occurring  in  other  countries,  and  at  other 
times,  it  is  of  inestimable  value,  as  being  the  only  original  evidence  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  circumstances,  connected  with  the  first  establishment  of  the 
French  in  the  Mississippi  regions. — The  "  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France,"  a 
history  of  the  French  possessions  in  North  America  from  their  first  occupation 
to  the  year  1740,  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Charlevoix,  has  been  already  mentioned  : 
the  last  volume  contains  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  Louisiana,  which  like  other 
parts  of  the  work,  when  compared  with  the  authorities,  is  calculated  to  convey 
a  higher  idea  of  the  sagacity  and  ingenuity  of  the  author,  than  of  his  good  faith 
as  a  historian. — The  "  Memoires  sur  la  Louisiane,"  a  general  description  and 
history  of  Louisiana,  compiled  by  the  Abb£  le  Mascrier,  from  the  papers  of  Lieu 
tenant  Dumont,  a  French  officer,  who  had  served  many  years  in  that  country, 
and  published  in  1753,  bears  the  impress  of  truth,  in  all  that  relates  to  the  author's 
own  experience  and  observation. — The  "  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,"  by  Le  Page 
Dupratz,  is  well  known,  having  been  translated  into  English  and  other  languages. 
The  author  resided  in  Louisiana  for  several  years,  as  a  manager  of  estates,  and 
his  evidence,  like  that  of  Dumont,  is  valuable,  so  far  as  he  confines  himself  to 
what  he  saw  ;  he  was,  however,  ambitious  to  produce  effect,  and  was  thus  led 
to  embroider  his  narrative,  by  striking  details  and  observations  which  detract 
from  its  value. — The  "  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,"  recently  published  at  New 
Orleans  by  C.  Gayarrd,  an  eminent  citizen  of  Louisiana,  is  very  valuable  from 
the  documents  contained  in  it,  copied  from  the  originals  in  the  archives  of  the 
French  government. 

The  particulars  respecting  the  history,  language,  manners,  &c.  of  the  Indian 
nations,  are  derived  from  various  sources,  in  addition  to  those  above  mentioned, 
among  which  are  "  Travels  through  South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Florida,"  in 
1774-'5,  by  William  Bartram,  a  Quaker  Naturalist — "  The  Natural  History  of 
Florida,"  by  Bernard  Romans — "  The  History  of  the  Indian  Nations  of  America,'' 
by  James  Adair,  for  many  years  a  trader  in  the  Creek,  Chickasa  and  Chocta 
countries — The  "Journal  and  Memoir  of  Col.  Benjamin  Hawkins,"  well  known 
as  an  agent  of  the  United  States,  among  the  Southern  Indians,  which  still  re 
mains  unpublished,  in  the  possession  of  Peter  Force,  Esq.  of  Washington  city — 
The  "  Synopsis  of  the  Aboriginal  Tribes  of  North  America,"  by  the  Hon.  Al 
bert  Gallatin,  in  the  second  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Anti 
quarian  Society,  &,c.  The  author  has,  moreover,  obtained  much  curious  infor 
mation,  from  Choctas,  Chickasas,  Creeks,  and  other  members  of  the  great  nations 
here  so  often  mentioned ;  and  he  acknowledges  his  obligations,  in  this  respect, 
to  Colonel  Pitchlynn,  a  Chocta  gentleman  of  intelligence  and  education,  who 
has  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  language  and  antiquities  of  his  race. 


1698.]  VOYAGE    OF    IBERVILLE    TO    LOUISIANA.  257 

ers,  carrying  together  about  thirty  persons,  in  addition  to  their 
crews,  with  a  moderate  supply  of  provisions,  ammunition,  and 
other  articles.  Among  the  volunteers,  were  M.  de  Sauvolle  who 
was  appointed  second  in  command,  M.  de  Bienville,  a  younger 
brother  of  Iberville,  then  a  lieutenant  in  the  French  navy,  and  not 
more  than  twenty  years  old,*  and  Father  Anastase  de  Douay  the 
Recollet,  who  after  surviving  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  La 
Salle's  last  expedition,  had  been  induced  again  to  quit  his  cloister, 
in  order  to  aid  the  enterprise  by  his  councils  and  the  fruits  of  his 
observation.  The  little  squadron  sailed  from  Rochefort,  on  the 
24th  of  September,  1698,  and  on  the  4th  of  December  reached 
Cape  Fran  jais  in  St.  Domingo.  There  several  recruits  were  ob 
tained,  among  whom  were  Laurent  de  Grave,  the  celebrated  bu- 
canier,  so  much  dreaded  by  the  Spaniards,  on  account  of.  his 
capture  of  Vera  Cruz,  in  1683,  with  others  of  the  same  stamp, 
engaged  as  pilots ;  and  being,  moreover,  joined  by  a  frigate  un 
der  the  Marquis  de  Chateaumorand,  they  entered  the  Mexican 
Gulf  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1699. 

Taking  their  course  towards  the  northwest,  the  French  vessels, 
on  the  21st  of  January,  reached  the  entrance  of  a  bay  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf;  and  on  steering  towards  it, 
they  saw,  to  their  surprise  and  mortification,  several  Spanish  ves 
sels,  at  anchor  within,  and  a  fort  on  the  shore,  under  the  flag  of 
that  nation.  A  boat  soon  came  off,  bearing  an  officer,  who  ten 
dered  to  Iberville,  the  compliments  of  the  Governor  Don  Andres 
de  Arriola,  and  informed  him  that  the  place,  which  was  the  Bay 
of  Santa  Maria  de  Galve,  or  Pensacola,  had  been,  for  some  time 
occupied  by  the  forces  of  His  Catholic  Majesty.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  French  could  only  continue  their  voyage  to 
wards  the  west;  and  on  the  31st  of  the  month,  they  anchored 
near  an  island,  to  which  the  name'  of  He  de  Massacre,f  or  Massa 
cre  island,  was  given,  from  the  quantity  of  human  bones  scattered 
upon  it.  Farther  on  they  found  a  convenient  anchorage,  between 

*•  From  the  records  of  the  family  of  Lemoine  at  Montreal,  it  appears  that  M. 
Pierre  d'Tberville  was  born  April  16th,  1659,  and  M.  Jean  Baptiste  de  Bienville, 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1680. 

f  The  He  de  Massacre  was  afterwards  named  Dauphine  Island,  and  then  com 
prised  the  two  islands,  now  called  Massacre  and  Dauphine,  which  were  sepa 
rated  by  an  invasion  of  the  sea  in  1717,  as  hereafter  related. 

33 


258  IBERVILLE    ENTERS    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  [1699. 

an  island  named  by  them  He  au  Vaisseau,  or  Ship  Island,  and 
the  mainland,  to  which  they  removed  on  the  2d  of  February.  A 
group  of  small  islands,  seen  by  them,  in  the  south,  received  the 
appellation  of  les  Chandeleurs,  from  their  discovery  on  Candle 
mas  day;  and  the  small  sandy  strips  of  Horn  island,  Cat  island, 
and  Dog  island,  were  also  observed  and  named  about  the  same 
period. 

Iberville  had  endeavored,  before  leaving  France,  to  collect  all 
the  information  relative  to  these  countries,  and  particularly  as  to 
the  position  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  according 
to  the  maps  published  during  the  latter  years  of  that  century,  lay 
at  the  north-western  extremity  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  near  the  ac 
tual  situation  of  the  entrance  to  Galveston  Bay.  He  had,  however, 
been  convinced  by  the  celebrated  geographer  Delisle,  that  the 
great  river  discharged  its  waters  much  farther  east ;  and  this 
opinion  appearing  to  be  confirmed,  by  what  he  was  able  to  ex 
tract  from  some  natives  of  the  coast,  near  Ship  island,  he  quitted 
that  place  on  the  27th  of  February,  with  two  shallops,  accompa 
nied  by  Bienville  and  Father  Anastase,  in  search  of  the  Mississippi. 

Following  the  coast  towards  the  south-west,  they,  on  the  2d 
of  March,  discovered  and  entered  an  opening,  which,  from  the 
force  of  the  current  rushing  through  it,  they  conceived  to  be 
one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi.*  This  supposition  was 
strengthened,  when  advancing  up  the  stream,  they  observed  other 
outlets  ;  and  farther  on,  the  turbid  waters  wrere  seen  rolling  down 
in  a  mass,  and  with  a  force,  which  could  only  belong  to  one  of  the 
greatest  of  rivers.  Laboring  upwards,  they  met  numerous  par 
ties  of  natives  on  the  shore,  and  in  canoes ;  and  landing  at 
a  deserted  village,  they  found  in  a  cabin,  some,  papers,  one 
of  which  proved  to  be  a  letter  addressed  by  Tonty  to  La  Salle, 
and  left  with  the  savages,  in  1686.  Communications  were 
soon  established  with  these  Indians,  who  called  themselves 
Mongoulachas;  but  it  was  discovered  that  they  had  another 

*  See  the  letter  addressed  in  1700,  by  the  French  geographer  Delisle,  to  the 
.Astronomer  Cassini,  respecting  the  position  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  of 
which  a  translation  may  be  found  in  the  "  History  of  the  works  of  the  learned," 
vol.  2,  page  276.  This  paper  is  devoted  chiefly  to  an  examination  of  a  manu 
script  map  of  Mexico,  and  the  adjacent  countries,  sent  to  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Paris,  by  the  Duke  of  Escalona,  as  compared  with  the  information  relative  to  the 
position  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  obtained  by  La  Salle,  Iberville  and  others 


1699.]  IBERVILLE    ASCENDS    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  259 

name — Colapissas  or  Acoola-pissas — meaning  People  who  see  ;* 
and  it  was  afterwards  rendered  certain,  that  they  were  the 
same  mentioned  in  the  account  of  La  SahVs  expedition,  as  the 
Quinipissas,  who  had  exhibited  so  much  hostility  to  the  French 
on  that  occasion.  Several  other  small  tribes  were  also  visited, 
among  whom  were  the  Bayagoulas,  occupying  the  country  about 
the  site  of  New  Orleans,  and  the  Ouachas  or  Washas,  on  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  great  river :  beyond  these  were  the  Houmas,  or 
Red  men,  separated  from  the  Bayagoulas  by  a  small  rivulet,  in 
which  several  red  stakes  were  planted,  as  land-marks;  and  the 
place  was,  in  consequence,  named  Baton  Rouge. f 

At  length,  after  eighteen  days  of  laborious  navigation  up  the 
Mississippi,  Iberville  and  his  companions  reached  one  of  its  great 
circumvolutions,  probably"  the  same  now  known  as  the  Tunica 
Bend,  from  the  Tunica  Indians^  dwelling  on  its  banks,  not  far 
from  the  mouth  of  Red  river;  and  being  satisfied  with  the  results 
of  their  exploration,  they  began  to  retrace  their  course.  While 
on  the  wray,  they  were  assured  by  a  Bayagoula  chief,  that  a 
small  passage,  opening  from  the  Mississippi  on  the  east,  commu 
nicated  with  another  stream,  and  through  it,  and  some  lakes, 
with  the  sea;  and  placing  confidence  in  the  account,  Iberville  di 
rected  his  brother  to  return  with  the  shallops,  by  the  river,  to 
Ship  island,  while  he  himself,  with  a  few  men,  and  their  guides, 
should  explore  the  other  route  in  canoes.  They  accordingly 
parted  at  the  mouth  of  the  passage,  which  was  called  Manchac 
by  the  natives ;  and  Iberville  was  soon  carried  by  the  current  into 
a  small  stream,  and  down  it  into  a  small  lake,  communicating  on 
the  other  side,  with  another  and  much  larger  lake,  from  which  he 
entered  the  Gulf,  about  twelve  leagues  west  of  Ship  island,  on 
the  1st  of  April.  To  the  larger  of  the  two  lakes  thus  discovered, 
he  gave  the  name  of  Pontchartrain,  and  to  the  other  that  of  Mau- 
repas,  in  honor  of  the  Ministers  of  Marine  and  of  Foreign  Affairs 
of  France ;  the  small  stream  falling  into  Lake  Maurepas,  which 

*The  Mongoulachas  may  have  .been  the  Muglashas,  a  tribe  of  Choctas,  occu 
pying  the  country  between  the  Pearl  river  and  Lake  Pontchartrain. 

f  Such  is  the  origin  of  the  name  according  to  La  Harpe :  others,  however,  say 
that  it  was  suggested  by  a  very  large  red  cypress  tree,  found  growing  at  the 
place,  on  beholding  which,  one  of  the  men  cried  out,  "  Quel  beau  baton  rouge !" 
"  What  a  fine  red  stick  there  is  !" 

J  The  word  Tunica  signifies  a  Pillar  or  Post  in  the  Chocta  language. 


260  FIRST    FRENCH    SETTLEMENT    AT    BILOXY.  [1699, 

received  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  through  the  outlet  of  Man- 
chac,  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  Iberville. 

The  observations  made  by  Iberville,  on  the  depth  of  water  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  rapidity  of  the  current 
within,  induced  him  to  conclude,  that  it  would  not  admit  large 
vessels,  and  that  the  ascent  of  such  as  could  enter  it,  would  be 
difficult  and  dangerous  ;  the  passage  explored  by  him  on  his 
return,  was  navigable  only  by  boats,  for  which  it  however  offered 
a  safe  and  easy  access,  from  the  coast  to  the  river.  These  cir 
cumstances  were  calculated  to  lower  his  expectations  of  advan 
tage  from  the  trade  and  settlement  of  the  interior ;  and  he  aban 
doned  the  idea  of  an  immediate  establishment  on  the  Mississippi : 
but  he  also  had  in  view  the  commerce  with  the  Spanish  Pro 
vinces,  by  which,  especially,  if  a  'Bourbon  Prince  should  be 
placed  on  the  throne  at  Madrid,  a  large  portion  of  the  produce 
of  the  mines  of  Mexico  might  be  diverted  to  France.  For  this 
latter  object  a  depository  on  the  coast  was  indispensable,  to 
which  others  afterwards  founded  in  the  interior  might  be  useful 
accessories ;  and  as  such  a  depository  should  be  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  in  order  to  guard  that  important  point,  and  to 
secure  the  communications  by  the  river  with  Canada,  he  carefully 
examined  the  adjacent  coasts  in  search  of  a  proper  site.  The 
first  place  to  which  he  directed  his  attention  was  a  small  bay, 
near  the  entrance  to  Lake  Pontchartrain,  named  by  him  Bay  of 
St.  Louis ;  but  it  proved  too  shallow,  and  he  afterwards  selected 
a  spot  called  Biloxy,*  on  the  coast  farther  east,  where  the  stores 
and  materials  from  the  vessels  were  landed,  and  a  fort  and  some 
dwelling  houses  were  immediately  commenced. 

Having  completed  his  preparations  at  Biloxy,  Iberville  sailed 
for  France  on  the  4th  of  May,  leaving  his  colony  under  the  com 
mand  of  M.  de  Sauvolle.  His  acute  and  active  brother  M.  de  Bi- 
enville,  though  a  mere  youth,  immediately  employed  himself  with 
zeal,  in  the  examination  of  the  surrounding  coasts  ;  he  espe 
cially  explored  ftie  large  bay,  north  of  Massacre  island,  and  the 
river  emptying  into  its  northern  extremity,  which  the  Spaniards 

*  More  correctly  Apaluxy,  meaning  Turtle-eaters,  the  name  of  the  Chocta 
tribe,  occupying  that  part  of  the  coast.  The  Choctas  have  a  tradition,  that  the 
Indian  who  first  met  the  French  at  this  place,  was  named  Ullah  Mingo,  the  Boy 
Chief,  and  that  he  was  ever  after  respected  by  the  French  and  the  natives. 


1699.]  ENGLISH    VESSEL    IN    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  £61 

called  Mavilla  or  Mabila,  from  the  Mowilla  nation  of  Indians, 
dwelling  upon  it,  and  the  French  adopting  that  name,  with  a 
slight  variation,  made  it  Maubile  or  Mobile ;  and  thence  he  ad 
vanced  across  the  country,  as  near  to  Pensacola  as  he  could  with 
safety,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  extent  and  strength  of  the  Span 
ish  establishment,  taking  pains  to  conciliate  the  Indians  whom 
he  met  on  his  way. 

In  September,  Bienville  proceeded  to  the  Mississippi,  through 
Lake  Pontchartrain ;  and  while  engaged  in  treating  with  the 
Ouacha  or  Washa  nation  of  Indians,  inhabiting  the  vicinity  of  a 
small  lake,  at  a  short  distance  farther  west,  he  received  informa 
tion,  that  a  strange  vessel  had  entered  the  great  river.  He  has 
tened  to  the  spot  where  she  was  lying,  and  on  reaching  it  he 
found  her  to  be  an  English  ship,  carrying  sixteen  guns,  and  com 
manded  by  Captain  Barr,  who  declared,  that  he  had  been  sent  by 
his  government,  with  another  vessel  then  at  anchor  below,  to  seek 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  take  possession  of  its  territory. 
As  the  Englishman  seemed  to  be  uncertain,  whether  or  not  he  had 
entered  that  river,  Bienville  assured  him  that  he  had  not ;  that  the 
Mississippi  was  much  farther  west,  and  that  the  French  had  taken 
possession  of  the  stream,  in  which  they  were  then  lying,  and 
erected  a  strong  fort  on  it  a  little  higher  up.  Captain  Barr  rely 
ing  on  the  assurances  thus  given  to  him,  with  every  appearance 
of  good  faith,  by  a  French  officer,  immediately  sailed  down 
the  river  to  its  mouth,  and  there  joining  the  other  vessel, 
they  took  their  departure  together  in  the  direction  indicated  by 
Bienville. 

These  vessels  were  two  of  the  three,  already  mentioned,  as 
having  been  dispatched  by  Dr.  Coxe,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.*  A  circumstance 
connected  with  their  appearance  in  that  river,  deserves  to  be  re 
lated,  as  showing  the  spirit  which  then  prevailed  in  France,  with 
regard  to  independence  in  religious  matters.  Among  the  persons 
on  board,  were  many  Huguenots  who  had  been  expelled  from 
their  country  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1686, 
and  had  since  resided  in  Carolina.  One  of  their  number  privately 

*  See  the  curious  mass  of  extravagances  respecting  the  claim  of  Coxe  and  the 
countries  to  which  it  extends,  published  in  1722  by  his  son  Daniel,  under  the 
name  of  "  A  Description  of  the  English  province  of  Carolana." 


262  PRUDENT  CONDUCT  OF  BIENVILLE.         [1699. 

presented  to  Bienville  a  memorial,  assuring  him,  that  nearly  all 
the  exiles,  would  willingly  remove  to  Louisiana,  and  settle  there 
as  subjects  of  France,  if  they  could  be  secured  in  the  liberty  of 
exercising  their  religion.  Bienville  sent  this  memorial  to  the  gov 
ernment  at  Paris  ;  but  he  received  in  answer  a  positive  refusal, 
with  the  declaration,  "  that  the  King  had  not  expelled  those 
heretics  from  his  dominions,  in  order  that  they  should  form  a  re 
public  elsewhere."  Louisiana  was  thus  deprived  of  a  large 
and  valuable  French  population ;  but  no  other  answer  could 
have  been  expected  from  those  who  were  preparing  to  exter 
minate  the  few  Protestants  then  dwelling  in  the  dreary  wilds  of 
the  Cevennes. 

Bienville's  "  prudent  and  politic  conduct"  on  this  occasion,  was 
highly  commended  by  the  French  Government,  and,  indeed, 
proved  the  foundation  of  his  fortune.  In  commemoration  of 
the  circumstance,  the  bend  in  the  river  where  the  English  vessel 
was  found  at  anchor,  received  the  name  of  Le  Detour  des  An 
glais — the  English  Turn — which  it  still  retains ;  it  is  twenty 
miles  below  New  Orleans,  and  eighty  from  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
The  English  did  not  renew  their  attempt  to  occupy  the  Missis 
sippi  country,  though  Dr.  Coxe  used  every  exertion  for  many 
years  afterwards,  to  induce  the  government  to  send  an  expedi 
tion  for  that  purpose.  King  William  is  said  to  have  favored  the 
design  so  strongly,  as  to  have  declared,  that  he  "  would  leap 
over  twenty  stumbling  blocks  to  effect  it ;"  but  he  died  in  1702, 
and  in  the  long  and  bloody  war,  which  desolated  Europe  during 
the  ten  ensuing  years,  Louisiana  was  scarcely  remembered. 

Biloxy,  the  site  of  the  first  French  settlement  in  lower  Lou 
isiana,  is  a  barren,  sandy  spot,  offering  no  other  advantages  than 
a  tolerable  anchorage  in  front  of  it.  The  people  left  there,  were 
soon  seized  with  fevers,  and  on  the  return  of  Iberville  from 
France  in  December,  1699,  he  found  them  all  suffering  and  de 
jected.  They  had,  however,  unexpectedly  received  accessions 
to  their  numbers,  by  the  arrival  of  two  Jesuits,  Messrs.  Mon- 
tigny  and  Davion,  from  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and,  afterwards,  of 
the  Chevalier  de  Tonty  and  his  men,  who  had  obtained  leave  to 
abandon  their  rock  fort  on  the  Illinois,  and  join  their  countrymen 
on  the  coast.  Iberville  brought  with  him  a  number  of  settlers 
and  soldiers,  and  supplies  of  necessary  articles;  and  he  was  ac- 


1700.]      IBERVILLE    AGAIN    EXPLORES    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  263 

companied  by  several  gentlemen  and  officers,  among  whom  were 
his  relation  M.  Juchereau  de  St.  Denis  an  active  and  adven 
turous  Canadian,  and  M.  le  Sueur  the  discoverer  of  the  mines 
on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  who  had  been  sent  out  with  a  number 
of  men,  by  M.  L'Huillier,  a  capitalist  of  Paris,  to  work  a  sup 
posed  mine  of  copper,  on  the  St.  Peter's  river.* 

Iberville  was  alarmed  by  the  accounts  of  the  attempt  of  the 
English  to  establish  themselves  on  the  Mississippi ;  and,  in  con 
sequence,  he  ordered  a  fort  to  be  built  near  the  principal  outlet  of 
that  river,  which  was  placed  under  the  command  of  St.  Denis, 
and  was  afterwards  called  la  Balize.  He  also  determined  to  ex 
amine  the  great  stream  more  carefully,  in  order  to  see  whether  set 
tlements  might  not  be  advantageously  made  on  its  banks  ;  and 
with  this  view  he  proceeded  by  way  of  the  lakes  to  Manchac,  and 
thence  up  to  the  Tunica  Bend,  where  he  landed  and  marched  to 
the  principal  town  of  the  Natches  Indians,  situated  fifty  miles 
farther  north,  near  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  city  of  Natchez. 

Father  St.  Come,  a  Jesuit,  had  arrived  at  that  place  a  short 
time  previous  from  Canada,  and  had  ingratiated  himself  with  the 
people  and  their  chiefs,  so  far,  that  the  Great  Sun,  as  the  head 
of  the  nation  was  called,  with  all  his  nobles,  came  forth  in  pro 
cession  to  meet  the  French  Commandant.  Presents  were  ex 
changed,  and  the  utmost  good  feeling  seemed  to  prevail  on  both 
sides ;  and  Iberville,  after  examining  the  environs,  was  so  much 
struck  by  their  advantages  of  soil,  climate  and  position,  that  he 
formed  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  a  city  near  the  chief  town 
of  the  Natches,  which  he  proposed  to  call  Rosalie,  in  honor  of 
the  Countess  de  Pontchartrain. 

*  The  adventures  of  Le  Sueur  on  this  expedition  are  related  at  length  in  La 
Harpe's  Journal.  Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  Louisiana,  he  proceeded  with 
his  men  up  the  Mississippi,  and  the  St.  Pierre,  (more  properly  the  Sans-Pierres) 
or  St.  Peter's  river,  which  joins  the  great  stream  near  the  45th  degree  of  lati 
tude,  to  the  entrance  of  the  Blue  river ;  and  there  he  built  a  fort,  in  which  he  spent 
the  winter  in  preparations  to  extract  copper  from  a  greenish  earth,  supposed  to 
contain  a  large  proportion  of  that  metal.  In  the  spring  of  1702,  he,  however, 
returned  to  Mobile,  bringing  with  him  a  quantity  of  this  earth,  which  he  carried 
to  France ;  and  he  was  soon  after  followed  by  his  men  who  abandoned  their  fort 
in  consequence  of  the  dangers  apprehended  from  Indians.  The  analysis  of  the 
earth  showed  it  to  be  merely  clay,  slightly  tinged  by  copper ;  but  the  proportion 
of  that  metal  was  so  small,  that  it  could  not  be  extracted  to  advantage,  and  the 
enterprise  was  not  prosecuted  farther. 


264  IBERVILLE    VISITS    THE    NATCHES.  [1700. 

Amongst  the  Natches,  Iberville  observed  the  same  degree  of 
refinement  in  many  respects,  accompanied  by  the  same  barbarity 
in  others,  which  had  been  remarked  by  La  Salle  twenty  years 
previous.  The  people  supported  themselves  almost  entirely 
by  agriculture,  and  they  were  governed  according  to  laws  and 
customs,  which  seemed  to  be  rigidly  enforced;  yet  the  utmost 
licentiousness  prevailed,  and  human  beings  were  sacrificed, 
without  mercy,  at  the  funerals  of  their  chiefs,  and  on  many  other 
occasions.  The  same  character,  disposition  and  customs,  were 
found  among  the  Taensas,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  about  fifty  miles  above;  and  the  French,  moreover,  had  an 
opportunity  of  witnessing  the  horrible  effects  of  superstition  on 
those  savages,  who,  when  their  temple  was  set  on  fire  by  light 
ning,  threw  a  number  of  infants  into  the  flames,  in  order  to  ap 
pease  the  wrath  of  their  offended  gods. 

After  spending  a  few  days  among  the  Taensas,  Iberville,  with 
a  portion  of  hi4  men,  returned  J>y  the  Mississippi  and  the  lakes 
to  Biloxy;  while  Bienville  and  St.  Denis,  with  the  others  crossed 
the  country  westward,  to  the  Red  river,  which  they  reached  early 
in  April,  at  the  chief  town  of  the  Natchitoches  Indians.  Thence 
they  extended  their  observations  to  the  Yatassi,  the  Adayes,  the 
Nadaco,  and  other  nations  farther  distant  from  the  Mississippi, 
with  whom  they  traded  and  made  treaties  of  peace;  and  having 
spent  a  month  in  this  manner,  they  joined  the  commandant  at  the 
capital  of  the  province,  in  the  middle  of  May. 

During  the  absence  of  Iberville  on  this  expedition,  Arriola,  the 
commandant  of  Pensacola,  appeared  in  a  frigate  before  the  French 
establishment,  with  the  intention  of  destroying  it,  agreeably  to 
orders  received  from  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico ;  but  finding  his 
forces  unequal  to  the  task,  he  contented  himself  with  summoning 
the  people  to  quit  the  dominions  of  His  Catholic  Majesty.  The 
summons  was  treated  with  contempt  by  Sauvolle,  whereupon, 
the  Spaniards  sailed  away;  but  a  storm  arose,  soon  after  their 
departure,  in  the  course  of  which  the  frigate  was  driven  on  one 
of  the  Chandeleur  islands  and  lost. 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  the  Mississippi,  Iberville  sailed 
for  France.  The  ensuing  summer  proved  very  unfortunate  for 
the  colony ;  more  than  sixty  of  the  French,  including  the  Com 
mandant  M.  de  Sauvolle  died,  and  of  the  remaining  one  hundred 


1702.]         FOUNDATION    OF    FORT    LOUIS    ON    THE    MOBILE.  265 

and  fifty,  a  large  number  suffered  severely  from  fevers  and  from 
want  of  food.  No  attempt  had  been  made  to  cultivate  the  ground  ; 
and  the  provisions  brought  from  France  were  almost  exhausted, 
before  the  middle  of  December,  when  Iberville  arrived  in  a  ship, 
commanded  by  his  brother  M.  de  Serigny,  with  a  fresh  supply, 
and  a  reinforcement  of  soldiers  and  colonists.  Being  con 
vinced  of  the  entire  unfitness  of  Biloxy  for  a  settlement,  he 
caused  the  coasts  to  be  farther  explored  by  Bieriville,  who  at 
length. reported  in  favor  of  two  places — one  at  the  eastern  end  of 
Massacre  island  for  the  magazines  of  the  colony — and  the  other 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mobile  river,  about  twenty-five  miles 
above  its  entrance  into  the  bay,  for  the  principal  town  and  seat 
of  the  government :  and  his  selections  being  approved,  store 
houses  were  erected  at  the  former  place,  which  received  the  name 
of  Dauphine  island,  while  a  town  and  a  fort  called  Fort  Louis 
were  commenced  at  the  other  point  on  the  river. 

These  dispositions  being  made,  Iberville  again  sailed  for 
France,  in  May,  1701  ;  but  he  never  re- visited  Louisiana,  which 
remained,  during  the  five  following  years,  under  the  direction  of 
Bienville  as  Commandant,  and  their  brother  M.  de  Chateaugue  as 
Lieutenant. 

The  establishment  of  the  French  on  the  Mobile,  soon  brought 
them  into  contact  writh  the  Indian  nations  occupying  the  interior 
regions  drained  by  that  stream.  Of  these  nations,  the  principal 
were  the  Choctas,  an  extensive  confederacy  of  tribes,  dwelling 
on  the  western  branch  of  the  Mobile,  then  called  the  Chickasa 
river  and  now  the  Tombigbee,  and  on  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Pearl  river,  entering  the  Gulf  midway  between  Mobile  Bay  and 
Lake  Pontchartrain.  Farther  north,  between  the  head  waters  of 
the  Chickasa,  and  those  of  the  Tallahatchee  or  Yazoo,  and  of 
the  Loosa-Chitto  or  Big  Black  rivers,  dwelt  the  Chickasas,* 
another  confederacy,  less  numerous  than  that  of  the  Choctas,  but 
powerful  from  their  courage  and  the  strength  of  their  union. 
The  upper  streams  of  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Mobile,  now 
called  the  Alabama  were  occupied  by  the  Alibamons,  the  western 
most  portion  of  the  great  Muscogheef  confederacy,  which  thence 
extended  eastward  to  the  Savannah  and  the  Alatamaha.  These 

*  Correctly  Shickashas,  supposed  to  signify  the  First  settled. 

f  More  correctly  Muscokee,  the  hard  sound  of  g  being  unknown  among  them. 

34 


266  FIRST    RELATIONS    OF    FRENCH    WITH    INDIANS.       [1702. 

three  nations  were  evidently  of  one  great  family,  and  their  lan 
guages  were  dialects  of  one  common  tongue.  The  Chickasas 
were  celebrated  for  their  stern  intrepidity,  and  their  unbending 
resistance  to  foreign  rule  or  influence;  they  subsisted  almost 
entirely  on  the  produce  of  the  chase,  for  which  they  held  almost 
exclusive  possession  of  the  whole  territory  extending  northward 
to  the  Ohio.  The  Choctas  no  less  brave,  and  more  ferocious, 
were  noted  above  all  other  Indians,  for  their  love  of  intrigue, 
their  cunning,  dissimulation,  covetousness,  and  disregard  of  en 
gagements;*  occupying  one  of  the  most  fertile  portions  of  Ameri 
ca,  they  derived  much  of  their  support  from  agriculture,  and  they 
presented  the  remarkable  peculiarity,  that  the  men  labored  with 
the  women  in  the  fields.  The  Alibamons  seem  to  have  been  less 
stubborn  than  the  Chickasas,  more  grave  and  honest  than  the 
Choctas,  and  more  politic  than  either. 

The  Choctas  and  Chickasas  were  the  dominant  powers  of  the 
Lower  Mississippi,  and  between  them  subsisted  the  most  rancor 
ous  hostility.  Of  the  smaller  nations  dwelling  near  that  river, 
the  Yazoos,f  the  Chacchoumas,  the  Offagoulas,  and  the  Natches 
were  in  strict  alliance  with  the  Chickasas,  while  the  influence 
of  the  Choctas  prevailed  over  the  Tunicas,  the  Houmas,  and  the 
others  farther  south.  The  Cherokees,  inhabiting  the  moun 
tainous  regions  about  the  head  waters  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Sa 
vannah  and  the  Chatta-hoochee,  were  too  far  removed  from  the 
French  settlements  on  the  Gulf  to  have  much  intercourse  with 

*  Adair  in  his  history  of  the  Indian  nations,  characterises  the  Choctas,  as  "  in 
the  highest  degree,  of  a  base,  ungrateful  and  thievish  disposition ;  fickle  and 
treacherous,  ready-witted,  and  endowed  Avith  surprising  flow  of  smooth  or  artful 
language,  on  every  subject,  within  the  reach  of  their  ideas;  in  each  of  which 
qualities,  they  far  exceed  any  other  society  of  people.  They  are  such  great  pro 
ficients  in  the  art  of  stealing,  that  in  our  store-houses,  they  often  thieve,  while 
they  are  speaking  to,  and  looking  at  the  owner  in  the  face."  Bernard  Romans  is 
more  favorable  to  the  Choctas,  whom  he  styles  a  "  nation  of  farmers,  rather  than 
of  savages  ;"  all  the  other  evidence  of  the  former  character  of  these  people  how 
ever  corresponds  with  that  of  Adair,  though  the  Choctas  of  the  present  day  cer 
tainly  exhibit,  in  their  new  home  between  the  Red  river  and  the  Arkansas,  as 
much  honesty,  sobriety  and  industry,  and  as  strong  a  tendency  to  cultivation,  as 
any  other  of  the  aboriginal  nations  of  America. 

f  Yazoo  is  properly  Eyashoo,  the  Chocta  word  for  the  Departed,  signifying  their 
secession  from  that  confederacy:  Chacchouma  means  a  Red  craw-fish,  an  ani 
mal  abounding  in  those  countries  ;  the  Offagoulas  were  the  Dog  nation ;  the 
Houmas  were  simply  Red  men. 


1703.] 


MISSION    OF    TONTY    TO    THE    CHICKASAS. 


267 


them  for  sometime ;  and  they  were  almost  always  at  war  with  the 
English  in  their  own  vicinity,  in  Carolina.  The  English  had 
however,  as  already  said,  penetrated  to  the  Chickasas,  at  an  ear 
lier  period,  and  amicable  relations  had  been  established  between 
them,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Choctas,  who  were  beginning  to 
feel  their  inferiority  from  the  want  of  guns  and  ammunition,  when 
the  French  made  their  settlement  at  Mobile. 

Bienville  was  soon  aware  of  this  state  of  things  among  the 
Indian  nations,  and  he  endeavored  by  every  means  in  his  power 
to  counteract  the  English  and  to  establish  the  influence  of  France 
in  those  countries.  For  such  purposes  no  one  was  better  qualified 
than  Tonty,  from  his  acquaintance  with  the  habits  and  modes  of  life 
of  the  aborigines,  as  well  as  his  courage  and  his  habitual  good 
temper ;  and  in  1703,  he  undertook  a  mission  to  the  Chickasas, 
whom  he  induced  to  consent  to  a  peace  with  the  Choctas  under 
the  guarantee  of  the  French.  In  confirmation  of  these  engage 
ments,  seventy  Chickasa  chiefs  came  to  Mobile,  where  they  were 
met  by  a  large  number  of  Choctas,  and  the  sacred  calumet  was 
smoked  with  great  ceremony  ;  presents  were  made  to  both  parties, 
by  Bienville,  and  treaties  were  concluded  between  each  of  them 
and  the  French.  But  the  Choctas  were  unable  to  resist  the  tempta 
tion  to  plunder  and  revenge  offered  by  the  return  of  the  Chickasas 
through  their  country;  and  the  latter  were  all  murdered,  while  on 
their  way  up  the  river,  though  under  the  protection  of  a  French 
escort,  commanded  by  M.  de  Boisbriant.  From  that  period  the 
Chickasas  became  the  irreconcilable  foes  of  the  French,  whom 
they  regarded  as  accomplices  in  the  treachery  ;  and  their  baneful 
influence,  contributed,  as  will  be  seen,  more  than  any  other  cause, 
to  depress  the  colonies  of  that  nation  on  the  Mississippi. 

Bienville  endeavored,  at  the  same  time,  to  establish  amicable 
relations  with  the  Alibamons,  but  there  also  he  had  been  antici 
pated  by  the  English,  and  his  emissaries  were  beaten  and  driven 
away.  In  order  to  avenge  this  insult,  Tonty  and  St.  Denis  were 
sent  in  the  spring  of  1704,  with  a  small  party  of  French,  and 
some  Choctas,  to  invade  the  lower  towns  of  the  Alibamons,  in 
which  they  were  wholly  unsuccessful,  being  surprised  and  obliged 
to  retreat  with  the  loss  of  several  men. 

In  these  expeditions,  Tonty  explored  the  two  great  branches 
of  the  Mobile,  and  obtained  much  information  as  to  the  geo- 


268  DEATH    OF    TONTY.  [1704. 

graphy  of  that  part  of  America,  of  which  he  seems  to  have  com 
piled  the  earliest  maps.  His  long  and  active  life  was,  however, 
drawing  to  a  close ;  and  after  his  return  from  the  Alabama,  he 
was  seized  with  a  fever,  of  which  he  died  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  on 
the  4th  of  September,  1704. 

Whilst  the  French  were  thus  laboring  to  establish  themselves 
on  the  shore  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  their  numbers  were  slowly  in 
creasing  in  the  regions  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  which  were 
then  comprehended  under  the  general  name  of  the  Illinois.  After 
the  abandonment  of  Fort  St.  Louis  by  Tonty  and  his  men  in 
1699,  no  military  post  was  maintained  in  those  countries  for 
several  years,  during  which  they  were  visited  only  by  Jesuits  and 
traders.  The  foundation  of  the  Jesuit  mission  on  St.  Joseph's 
river,  by  Father  Allouez  has  already  been  noticed:  in  1700, 
Father  Gravier,  established  another  on  the  rock  where  Fort  St. 
Louis  had  stood;  and  he  soon  after  begun  a  third,  at  Cahokia, 
on  the  Mississippi,  almost  opposite  to  the  present  city  of  St. 
Louis,  and  a  fourth  at  the  principal  village  of  the  Kaskaskia  In 
dians,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia  river,  which  falls  into  the 
Mississippi  from  the  east,  midway  between  the  entrances  of  the 
Missouri  and  the  Ohio.  Detroit  was,  at  the  same  time,  occupied 
by  the  French,  under  La  Motte  Cadillac,  the  commandant  of  the 
Upper  Lakes ;  and.  the  discovery  of  the  more  direct  route  be 
tween  Canada,  and  the  Mississippi,  by  way  of  the  Miami  and 
Wabash  rivers,  led  in  time  to  the  desertion  of  the  old  line  of 
communication  by  lakes  Huron  and  Michigan  and  the  Illinois. 
In  1702,  an  attempt  was  made  by  M.  Juchereau,  and  a  party  of 
Canadians  to  form  a  trading  post  at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio,* 
then  called  the  Ouabaehe  or  Wabash,  and  the  Mississippi ;  but 
the  death  of  Juchereau,  and  the  enmity  of  the  surrounding  In 
dians,  caused  the  place  to  be  evacuated  two  years  afterwards. 

The  Jesuits  endeavored  also  to  extend  their  establishments  to 
the  southern  portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  with  which  ob 
ject,  several  members  of  their  order  came  to  the  Natches  towns, 


*  Ohio  was  the  Iroquois  name  for  the  northernmost  branch,  now  called  the 
Alleghany ;  Ouabaehe  and  Ouabouskigou  were  the  names  used  by  the  Indians 
near  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi.  The  French  gave  the  name  of  Ouabaehe 
to  the  stream  now  called  the  Wabash,  and  that  portion  of  the  Ohio  below  its 
mouth. 


1701.]  WAR    OF    THE    SPANISH    SUCCESSION.  269 

in  1700.  They  were,  however,  less  successful  there,  than  in  the 
Illinois  ;  their  first  missionary  Father  St.  Come,*  was  a  dissolute 
person,  and  his  amours  with  one  of  the  female  Suns,  occasioned 
his  expulsion  from  Natches,  after  which,  he  was  murdered  by  the 
Chetimechas  Indians  dwelling  farther  south.  Father  Davion,  a 
Jesuit  of  a  different  character,  took  his  position  on  the  Tunica 
heights  overhanging  the  Mississippi,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Red  river,  where  he  resided  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
in  defiance  of  all  dangers  and  difficulties :  the  spot  on  which 
his  hermitage  stood,  was  called  in  honor  of  him  Rocher  a  Davion; 
it  was  afterwards  known  as  Loftus'  Heights,  and  nowr  as  Fort 
Adams. 

In  the  meantime,  the  whole  civilized  world  had  been  again  in 
volved  in  war,  by  the  personal  ambition  of  the  sovereigns  who 
controlled  its  affairs.  The  object  of  the  contest  on  that  occasion, 
was  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Spain,  upon  the  death  of 
King  Charles  II.,  the  last  male  descendant  in  the  direct  line,  from 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  This  king,  who  died  in  1700,  left  no 
children;  and  several  claimants  to  his  throne  immediately  ap 
peared,  all  deriving  their  titles  through  his  sisters,  and  other  fe 
males  of  his  family.  The  principal  pretenders  were,  however, 
the  Archduke  Charles  of  Austria,  second  son  of  the  Emperor 
Leopold  of  Germany;  and  Philip  Duke  of  Anjou,  second  grand 
son  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France ;  each  of  whom  had  been  preferred 
to  his  elder  brother,  in  order  to  lessen  the  jealousy,  which  would 
have  arisen  from  the  union  of  two  crowns  on  one  sovereign.  The 
King  of  Spain  had  been  induced  in  his  last  moments  to  designate 
the  Duke  of  Anjou  as  his  successor;  and  immediately  after  his  de 
cease,  that  prince  was  proclaimed  to  the  nation,  which  almost 
unanimously  received  him,  under  the  title  of  Philip  V.  The 
Austrian  Archduke,  nevertheless,  persisted  in  his  claim ;  and  an 
alliance  being  formed  in  his  behalf,  between  Germany,  the  United 
Provinces  and  England,  against  France  and  Spain  the  sup 
porters  of  the  party  on  the  throne,  the  war  famous  in  history,  as 
the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  was  commenced  in  1701. 

Of  the  particulars  of  this  war  in  Europe  it  is  unnecessary  here 

*  Some  accounts  of  St.  Come  may  be  found  in  that  repository  of  scandal,  en 
titled  the  Memoires  de  Maurepas.  Father  Davion  was,  probably,  the  original  of 
Father  Aubry,  in  Chateaubriand's  celebrated  Romance  of  Atala. 


270          ATTACK    BY    THE    ENGLISH    ON    ST.    AUGUSTINE.       [1702. 

to  speak.  The  French  were  defeated  in  many  dreadful  battles, 
of  which  it  will  be  sufficient  to  name  those  of  Blenheim,  Ramil- 
lies,  Turin  and  Malplaquet ;  and  Gibraltar,  the  key  of  the  Medi 
terranean  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  who  have  ever  since 
retained  it.  Philip  V.  whom  it  was  the  object  of  the  allies  to 
dethrone,  though  often  driven  from  his  capital,  nevertheless, 
maintained  his  crown  ;  not  indeed  by  his  talents  or  merits,  for  he 
had  none,  but  the  nation  was  with  him,  and  regarded  his  oppo 
nents  as  its  enemies. 

With  regard  to  America,  attempts  had  been  made  by  the  Eng 
lish,  before  the  commencement  of  the  war,  through  agents  sent 
from  their  West  India  islands,  to  induce  the  Spanish  provinces  to 
embrace  the  cause  of  the  German  pretender  to  the  throne  who 
w^as  styled  King  Charles  III.  Those  countries,  however,  re 
mained  firm  in  their  allegiance  to  Philip  V.,  as  being  the  party 
in  possession,  on  the  principle,  that  the  colonies  should  follow  the 
lot  of  the  mother  country. 

Upon  the  rejection  of  these  overtures,  orders  were  sent  from 
England  to  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  to  prosecute  the 
war  with  vigor  against  the  Spaniards,  in  his  vicinity  ;  and 
six  hundred  militia,  with  a  number  of  Yamassee  and  Muscoghee 
Indians,  were  accordingly  collected,  with  whom  the  Governor, 
James  Moore,  sailed  for  St.  Augustine,  in  November,  1702. 
Another  body  of  militia  and  Indians  had  previously  set  out  for 
the  same  point  by  land,  under  Colonel  Daniel,  who  arrived  there 
before  the  appearance  of  the  vessels,  and  took  and  burnt  the 
town,  without  much  opposition.  The  Governor  of  Florida,  Don 
Jose  de  Zuniga,  however  effected  his  retreat,  with  the  garrison 
and  people  to  the  Castle  of  San  Marcos  on  the  north  side  of  the 
town,  where  he  remained  secure  against  the  attacks  of  the  Eng 
lish,  even  after  the  arrival  of  their  vessels  from  Charleston,  as 
they  were  unprovided  with  artillery  capable  of  producing  any 
effect  on  the  works.  In  order  to  supply  this  deficiency,  Colonel 
Daniel  was  dispatched  to  Jamaica  ;  but  soon  after  his  departure, 
two  Spanish  ships  of  war  appeared  off  the  harbor,  and  Moore 
being  seized  with  a  panic,  abandoned  his  vessels  to  the  enemy, 
and  made  a  hasty  retreat,  with  all  his  men  by  land  to  Carolina. 

Such  was  the  disgraceful  result  of  the  first  expedition  of  the 
Carolinians  against  the  Spaniards.  The  Governor  of  St.  Angus- 


1704.]    INTERCOURSE  BETWEEN  FLORIDA  AND  LOUISIANA.       271 

tine  hastened  to  restore  his  town  to  its  former  state,  and  to  place 
it  in  a  condition  to  resist  a  new  attack ;  with  which  view  he  sent 
messengers  by  land  to  Pensacola,  to  request  assistance.  None 
could  be  afforded  by  the  latter  place ;  but  the  request  was  for 
warded  to  Bienville,  who  immediately  furnished  the  Spaniards 
with  some  arms  and  ammunition,  and  dispatched  a  vessel  to  bear 
the  news  of  what  had  occurred  in  Florida,  to  the  Viceroy  of 
Mexico.  This  act  of  courtesy  led  to  an  extension  of  the  in 
tercourse  between  the  settlements  of  the  two  nations  on  the  Mex 
ican  Gulf,  which  was  carried  on  to  the  advantage  of  both  parties, 
without  interruption,  until  the  end  of  the  war,  and  probably, 
prevented  the  entire  dispersion  of  the  French  colonists. 

The  Governor  of  Florida,  by  the  assistance  thus  obtained  from 
the  Mobile,  Vera  Cruz  and  Havanna,  was  soon  enabled  to  place  his 
province  in  security ;  and  in  order  to  keep  the  Indians  of  the 
lower  Apalachicola  in  subjection,  he  established  several  posts  in 
that  country,  of  which  the  principal  was  at  the  junction  of  the 
Flint  and  Chattahoochee  branches.  The  English,  on  the  other 
side,  also,  exerted  themselves  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  In 
dians  of  the  upper  Chattahoochee  and  Savannah  ;  and  in  1704, 
Governor  Moore  at  the  head  of  a  large  number  of  those  savages, 
attacked  tfre  Spanish  posts  last  mentioned,  from  w^hich  their  gar 
risons  were  all  driven,  in  the  course  of  that  and  the  following 
years.  Of  the  Indians  taken  by  the  English  in  these  campaigns, 
a  large  number  were  sent  to  Boston  and  sold  as  slaves;  but  they 
died  in  a  short  time  from  consumption  or  despondency,  arid 
the  attempt  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war  by  such  means  was 
not  repeated. 

Iberville  had  been,  meanwhile,  actively  engaged  in  France, 
in  preparing  an  expedition  of  which  he  was  to  have  the  com 
mand,  against  the  British  possessions  in  the  West  Indies  and 
Carolina.  For  this  object,  he  sailed  from  Rochefort  in  the  spring 
of  1706,  with  a  large  squadron,  and  after  laying  waste  the  British 
islands  of  St.  Christopher  and  Nevis,  he  was  about  to  attack  Ja 
maica  ;  but  finding  that  island  prepared  to  resist  him,  he  pro 
ceeded  to  Havanna,  where  he  made  arrangements  with  the  Cap 
tain-General  Villarin,  for  the  addition  of  a  Spanish  naval  force, 
to  aid  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  project.  There,  however, 
he  was  seized  with  the  yellow  fever,  which  soon  put  an  end  to 


272  DEATH    OF    IBERVILLE.  [1706. 

his  existence  ;  and  nearly  one-half  of  his  men,  were  carried  off  by 
the  same  disease  in  a  few  weeks.  His  successor  in  the  command, 
M.  Le  Fevre  de  la  Barre,  after  waiting  some  time  in  vain  for  the 
promised  succors,  departed  with  as  many  vessels  as  he  could 
man  for  St.  Augustine ;  and  being  there  joined  by  a  few  Spanish 
soldiers,  he  continued  his  voyage  to  Charleston,  off  which  place 
he  arrived  in  September. 

Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  who  had  succeeded  Moore  in  the  gov 
ernment  of  South  Carolina  in  1704,  had,  however,  received 
from  a  Dutch  vessel,  timely  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  French, 
and  was  actively  engaged  in  preparing  for  defence,  when  they 
appeared  off  the  harbor.  Le  Fevre  might,  nevertheless,  have 
succeeded  in  taking  Charleston,  had  he  spent  less  time  in  recon- 
noitering  and  sounding ;  but  when  he  at  length  entered  the  har 
bor,  he  found  a  large  body  of  militia  drawn  up  on  the  shore, 
covered  by  batteries  at  the  most  exposed  points.  The  French 
commander  thereupon  summoned  the  governor  to  surrender  the 
town  and  province ;  and  this  having  been  refused,  he  attempted 
to  land  with  a  body  of  men,  who  were  at  once  repulsed.  Other 
efforts  with  the  same  object  proved  equally  unsuccessful ;  and 
the  French  were  in  the  end  obliged  to  retreat,  with  the  loss  of 
one  of  their  vessels  and  a  large  number  of  men,  having  only  af 
forded  the  Carolinians  an  opportunity  to  recover  the  credit  losl 
by  them  at  St.  Augustine. 

In  the  following  year,  a  body  of  several  hundred  Indians, 
mostly  Muscoghees  from  the  Chattahoochee  and  Alabama  coun 
tries,  directed  by  some  English  and  negroes  from  Carolina,  sud 
denly  attacked  Pensacola,  which,  like  St.  Augustine,  was  burnt, 
while  the  inhabitants  retired  to  the  fort.  The  Indians  then  sur 
rounded  that  place,  which  must  soon  have  fallen  into  their  hands, 
had  it  not  been  relieved  by  Bienville  and  a  body  of  French  and 
Choctas  from  the  Mobile,  on  whose  appearance  the  English  and 
their  Indians  retreated  to  the  interior.  After  this  occurrence,  the 
French  and  Spanish  settlements  in  Louisiana  and  Florida  re 
mained  undisturbed  by  the  English,  except  that  in  1710,  the 
stores  at  Dauphine  island,  were  plundered  by  a  privateer  from 
Jamaica. 

Farther  north,  the  English  provinces  of  Virginia,  Maryland, 
Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  felt  no  other  effects  of  the  war, 


1706.]  EXCITEMENT    AMONG    THE    INDIANS.  273 

than  those  caused  by  the  embarrassment  of  their  communications 
with  Europe  and  the  West  Indies.  New  York  and  New  England 
suffered  from  the  surprise  of  some  of  their  frontier  settlements  by 
the  French  of  Canada;  and  Acadie,  that  is  to  say,  a  few  small  fish- 
.ng  villages  and  forts  on  the  peninsula,  fell  intp  the  hands  of  the 
English  in  1710.  But  the  war  was  prosecuted  very  languidly  on 
both  sides ;  and  the  only  great  expedition,  which  was  that  of  the 
English  under  Walker  and  Hill  against  Canada  in  1711,  ter 
minated  like  that  of  Phipps  twenty  years  before,  in  disaster  and 
destruction  to  the  invaders. 

The  wrar,  however,  produced  a  general  fermentation  among  the 
Indians,  especially  in  the  Mississippi  countries,  in  the  course  of 
which,  many  missionaries  and  traders  were  murdered,  and  the 
Jesuit  missions  in  the  Illinois,  were  entirely  broken  up.  Father 
Gravier,  the  principal  of  those  establishments,  was  severely 
wounded,  while  endeavoring  to  mediate  between  two  contending 
tribes  near  the  Peoria  Lake,  and  was  obliged  to  fly  to  Louisiana, 
where  he  died  in  1706  ;  the  other  Jesuits  were  all  driven  to 
Canada,  and  did  not  venture  to  return  to  their  posts  for  some 
time.  On  the  lower  Mississippi,  the  Taensas  were  attacked  and 
expelled  from  their  country,  by  the  Chickasas  and  the  Yazoos  of 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river;  and  after  wandering  for  some 
time,  towards  the  south,  they  were  invited  by  Bienville  to  settle 
on  a  branch  of  the  Mobile,  which  was  thenceforth  called  the 
Taensas,  (or  Tensaw,)  entering  the  north-east  extremity  of  Mo 
bile  bay. 

The  disputes  among  the  Indians  of  the  lower  Mississippi, 
were  fomented  and  encouraged  as  much  as  possible  *by  the 
French,  who  never  failed  to  exact  ample  atonement  in  blood  for 
any  attack  upon  their  own  countrymen.  The  Chetimechas  who 
murdered  the  priest  St.  Come,  were  exterminated :  and  the  Bay- 
agoulas,  the  Mongoulachas  or  Colapissas,  the  Pascagoulas,  and 
many  other  small  nations  speedily  disappeared.  The  operations 
of  the  French  in  that  quarter,  were  for  the  most  part  directed  by 
the  Canadian  Louis  de  St.  Denis,  who  had  quitted  the  military 
service,  and  established  himself  as  a  trader,  at  a  post  or  fort  on 
the  little  bayou  or  creek  of  St.  Jean,  falling  into  Lake  Pontchar- 
train,  near  the  spot  now  occupied  by  New  Orleans;  there  he  ac 
quired  much  influence  over  the  Indians  by  his  skill  and  daring, 
35 


274       BIENVILLE    REMOVED    FROM    HIS    GOVERNORSHIP.      [1707. 

and  he  was  known  and  dreaded  by  all  south  of  the  Natches,  as 
the  great  arbiter  of  their  destinies. 

In  this  interval,  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the  direction  of 
affairs  in  Louisiana.  During  Iberville's  life,  the  French  colony 
in  that  country  had  been,  as  already  said,  left  almost  entirely  at 
his  discretion,  or  rather  that  of  his  brother  Bienville  ;  as  Iberville 
passed  but  little  time  in  the  country,  and  never  visited  it  after 
1702.  His  high  character  and  credit  with  the  government,  pre 
vented  any  interference  or  inquiry  as  to  his  proceedings;  but  on 
his  death,  his  family,  having  neither  fortune  nor  influence  at  court, 
was  subjected  to  attacks  from  numerous  enemies.  The  inferior 
officers?  of  the  colony  openly  expressed  their  contempt  for  Bien 
ville  ;  and  memorials  were  sent  to  Paris,  signed  by  all  who  could 
write,  civil,  military  and  ecclesiastical,  condemning  his  conduct, 
and  praying  for  his  removal  and  punishment.  M.  de  la  Salle, 
the  commissary  of  accounts  wrote  to  the  ministry  in  1706,  that 
Iberville  and  Bienville  and  their  brother  Chateaugue  the  Lieu 
tenant-Commandant,  were  three  scoundrels,  employed  only  in 
filling  their  purses,  at  the  expense  of  the  government  and  the 
colonists;  and  they  were  afterwards  accused  of  every  species  of 
villainy — of  embezzling  the  articles  and  money  sent  as  presents 
to  the  Indians,  or  for  the  support  of  the  garrison — of  sacrificing 
the  natives  of  France  to  the  advantage  of  their  fellow-provincials 
From  Canada — and  of  various  other  delinquencies,  in  their  public 
as  well  as  their  private  capacities.  Bienville  foresaw  the  storm 
so  soon  as  he  received  the  news  of  the  death  of  his  brother; 
and  he  endeavored  to  avert  it,  by  praying  for  his  own  recall, 
in  ordet  that  he  might  justify  himself  in  person  at  Versailles. 
But  a  decree  had  been  already  issued  for  his  arrest  on  the  23d  of 
July,  1707;  and  M.  de  Muys  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
colony  and  province  of  Louisiana,  with  orders  to  carry  that  de 
cree  into  fulfilment  immediately  on  his  arrival,  and  to  send  Bien 
ville  as  prisoner  to  France. 

Fortunately,  however,  for  Bienville,  and  probably  also  for  the 
colony,  the  new  Commandant  M.  de  Muys,  died  on  his  passage 
from  France  ;  and  M.  Diron  d'Artaguette,  the  Royal  Commissary, 
for  the  general  superintendence  of  the  civil  affairs,  had  been  em 
powered  in  that  contingency  to  assume  the  direction  of  the  gov 
ernment,  until  farther  orders.  The  new  governor  reached  Mobile  in 


1708.] 

February,  1708,  and  found  the  country  and  its  inhabitants  in  a 
state  far  worse  than  had  been  represented.  The  French  were,  in 
fact,  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  garrison 
of  Fort  Louis  were  living  in  the  woods,  among  the  Indians,  by 
permission  of  the  Commandant,  in  order  that  they  might  support 
themselves  by  hunting.  From  a  census  then  taken,  it  appeared 
that  the  whole  population  of  the  colony  amounted  to  only  two 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  persons,  of  whom  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  were  officers  and  soldiers,  twenty-eight  were  white 
women,  and  eighty  were  Indians  and  negroes.  These  were  all 
collected  at  Mobile,  Dauphine  island  and  Biloxy,  except  the  few 
Canadians  engaged  with  St.  Denis  in  trade  on  the  Mississippi, 
or  in  agriculture  at  his  post  of  St.  Jean,  near  Lake  Pontchartrain; 
the  others  lived  in  absolute  idleness,  or  were  employed  in  con 
traband  traffic  with  the  Spaniards  of  Pensacola.  The  small 
amounts  allowed  by  the  government  for  the  support  of  the  estab 
lishment,  had  been  remitted  irregularly,  and  for  the  most  part  in 
the  form  of  merchandise  or  provisions  from  France  or  St*  Do 
mingo,  which  were  deposited  in  the  public  stores;  and  the  or 
ders  for  these  articles,  delivered  by  the  Commandant  and  Com 
missary,  as  pay  to  the  military  and  civil  servants,  constituted 
the  whole  currency  of  the  colony :  the  little  specie  obtained 
from  the  Spaniards,  being  nearly  all  sent  to  France. 

The  French  inhabitants  were,  for  the  most  part,  criminals  or 
vagrants,  sent  from  Europe  as  a  punishment,  and  incapable  of 
application  to  any  useful  pursuit.  In  the  midst  of  a  fertile  re 
gion,  they  depended  for  food,  on  supplies  from  Europe,  or  the 
West  Indies,  or  the  Spanish  provinces,  or  the  Indian  countries  of 
the  Mobile  or  the  Mississippi;  and  the  general  belief  that  the  es 
tablishment  would  be  soon  abandoned,  served  to  paralyse  all  ex 
ertions,  among  the  few  who  would  otherwise  have  been  disposed 
to  labor.  The  female  portion  of  the  community  was  very  small 
in  comparison  with  the  males,  and  little  if  at  all,  superior  in 
character.  The  French  Government  did,  indeed,  in  1704,  order 
twenty  young  girls  to  be  sent  out  as  help-mates  for  its  disconso 
late  subjects  on  the  Mexican  Gulf;  and  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
made  the  selection,  with  the  utmost  regard  for  their  moral  as  well 
as  their  personal  qualifications.  Unfortunately,  however,  he  con 
fined  himself  entirely  to  Parisians ;  and  the  women  whom  he 


276  MISERABLE    CONDITION    OF    LOUISIANA.  [1709. 

destined  for  the  purpose,  proved  so  utterly  unfit  to  bear  the  labors 
and  privations  to  which  they  were  exposed,  that  the  colonists  be 
came  disgusted  with  them,  and  maledictions  innumerable  were 
showered  by  both  parties,  on  the  head  of  the  worthy  prelate,  for 
his  interference  in  matters  belonging  more  properly  to  the  laity. 
After  this  failure,  the  idea  of  providing  virtuous  wives  and 
mothers  for  the  people  of  the  embryo  colony  on  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  was  relinquished ;  and  the  few  women  sent  thither  for  many 
years,  were  like  the  men,  chosen  for  the  most  part  from  among 
the  inmates  of  hospitals  and  prisons. 

This  wretched  state  of  things  could  not,  however,  be  justly  as 
cribed  to  Bienville  or  his  brothers,  though  in  many  respects,  their 
conduct  had  been  undoubtedly  marked  by  selfishness  and  dis 
honesty.  The  circumstances  were  duly  weighed  by  D'Artaguette, 
who  seems  to  have  been  a  fair  and  intelligent  person ;  and  he 
was  so  favorably  impressed  by  the  sagacity  of  Bienville,  his 
knowledge  of  the  country,  and  his  evident  desire  for  the  pros 
perity  of  the  colony,  that  the  order  for  his  arrest  was  suffered  to 
remain  in  suspense,  and  a  good  understanding  was  soon  estab 
lished  between  them.  The  enemies  of  the  Commandant  were 
thus  all  silenced,  except  La  Salle,  the  former  commissary,  and 
M.  de  la  Vente,  the  curate  of  Fort  Louis,  who  continued  to  pour 
forth  their  denunciations  against  him.  La  Salle,  however,  died 
in  1710;  and  Bienville  neutralised  the  venom  of  the  curate's  re 
presentations  to  the  ministry,  by  his  own,  in  one  of  which  he 
proved  that  this  head  of  the  church,  in  Louisiana,  did  not  scruple 
to  keep  a  shop,  in  which  he  openly  sold  goods  at  extortionate 
prices  "  like  an  Arab  Jew." 

In  this  manner,  things  continued  in  Louisiana  for  three  years, 
without  any  change  of  importance  in  the  character  or  prospects 
of  the  French  colony.  In  1711,  the  buildings  and  stores  at 
Fort  Louis,  were  nearly  all  destroyed  by  a  great  and  sudden  over 
flow  of  the  Mobile,  in  consequence  of  which  it  was  determined 
to  abandon  that  spot,  and  to  form  a  new  establishment  else 
where.  Bienville  exerted  all  his  influence  on  this  occasion, 
in  favor  of  a  settlement  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  His 
experience  had  convinced  him  that  the  country  could  never 
be  effectively  and  permanently  occupied,  until  the  people  should 
be  removed  from  the  barren  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  where 


1710.]  FOUNDATION    OF    MOBILE.  277 

no  encouragement  was  offered  for  labor,  to  the  fertile  regions  of 
the  interior,  in  which  many  of  the  most  valuable  articles  of  com 
merce  might  be  produced  with  ease,  and  of  the  finest  quality; 
and  with  this  view  he  had  selected  a  spot  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  where  it  flows  nearest  to  Lake  Pontchartrain,  pos 
sessing  the  advantage  of  accessibility  from  the  sea  by  .both- those 
channels.  But  D'Artaguette  was  then  preparing  to  return  to 
France,  having  been  informed  of  the  appointment  of  M.  de  la 
Motte  Cadillac,  as  Governor  of  Louisiana;  and  being  unwilling 
to  assume  the  responsibility  of  such  a  change  under  those  cir 
cumstances,  the  new  establishment  was  begun  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mobile,  where  a  fort  was  erected,  and  the  town  of  Mobile  was 
laid  out,  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  important  commercial 
city  of  that.  name. 

Bienville  had  also  become  persuaded,  that  the  most  industrious 
persons  who  could  be  brought  to  Louisiana  from  France,  would 
not  easily  be  induced  to  labor  in  the  cultivation  of  a  country,  the 
climate  of  which  was  so  different  from  that  of  their  native  land.  In 
order  to  remedy  this  deficiency,  he,  at  first,  endeavored  to  employ 
the  Indians  in  agriculture,  as  hired  servants,  or  as  slaves ;  which, 
however,  was  soon  found  impracticable,  from  the  facility  offered  for 
their  escape,  and  the  inimical  feelings  immediately  excited  among 
the  surrounding  nations.  The  Commandant  next  proposed  to  the 
planters  of  St.  Domingo,  that  they  should  furnish  Louisiana 
with  negroes,  in  return  for  Indians  brought  from  the  more  distant 
parts  of  the  continent,  in  the  proportion  of  three  of  the  latter  for 
each  African  ;  but  no  arrangement  of  that  kind  could  be  made, 
the  planters  having  already  become  satisfied  of  the  entire  ineffi 
ciency  of  the  aborigines  of  that  part  of  America,  as  laborers:  and 
Bienville  resigned  himself  to  await  the  period,  when  the  colonists 
of  Louisiana  should  be  in  a  condition  to  import  their  own  negroes 
from  Guinea. 

Cotemporary  with  the  establishment  of  this  French  colony  in 
Louisiana,  were  the  first  efforts  of  the  Spanish  Jesuits  to  introduce 
their  system  of  civilizing  the  natives,  into  the  Peninsula  of  Cali 
fornia,  in  which  their  success  was  as  great  as  could  have  been 
expected,  considering  the  barren  character  of  the  country,  and 
the  brutish  disposition  of  the  people.  The  Spanish  Government 
at  the  same  time,  endeavored  to  occupy  effectively,  the  region 


278  TEXAS    REMAINS    UNOCCUPIED.  [1711. 

called  Sonora,  extending  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Califor- 
nian  Gulf,  which  was  found  to  contain  many  rich  mines  of  gold, 
in  addition  to  the  advantages  presented  by  its  soil  and  climate.* 
In  New  Mexico,  the  authority  of  Spain  was,  after  many  years  of 
war,  completely  restored;  but  that  province  never  regained  its 
former  prosperity. 

Farther  east  the  territories  north  of  the  Rio  Bravo,  remained 
entirely  in  the  possession  of  the  natives ;  no  attempt  having  been 
made  to  occupy  them,  after  their  evacuation  by  Teran  in  1691 : 
and  the  only  persons  of  European  race  in  that  part  of  America, 
were  a  few  missionaries  and  vagabonds  from  Mexico,  of  whom 
one  of  the  latter  class,  named  Urrutia,  exercised  authority  as  a 
chief,  over  a  tribe  of  the  Cenis  or  Texas  near  the  Trinity  river. 
Father  Hidalgo,  a  Franciscan  friar,  who  had  resided  for  many 
years  in  that  country,  addressed  a  letter  in  1711,  to  the  Governor 
of  the  French  settlements  in  Louisiana,  inviting  him  to  open  a 
trade  with  the  Cenis,  and  even  to  form  establishments  among 
them,  by  means  of  which  a  profitable  intercourse  might  be  opened 
with  the  northern  provinces  of  Mexico;  but  D'Artaguette  did  not 
avail  himself  of  the  suggestion,  which  was,  however,  adopted  by 
his  successor,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  following;  chapter. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  before  the  period  last  mentioned, 
the  northern  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  had  been  surveyed  with 
much  care — though  by  whom  we  know  not — from  the  mouth  of 
the  Apalachicola,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi;  as  those 
points,  and  all  the  principal  places  intermediate,  are  represented 
with  perfect  accuracy,  as  regards  their  latitudes  and  longitudes, 
in  a  map  published  at  London  in  1710.  Nevertheless,  although 
several  astronomers  and  hydographers  were  employed  on  that 
coast  during  the  following  twenty  years,  all  the  maps  of  it  pro 
duced  within  that  period,  are  remarkably  incorrect,  some  of  them 
to  the  extent  of  several  degrees  of  longitude. 

*  Accounts  of  those  establishments  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  Californian  Peninsula, 
will  be  found  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  History  of  Oregon  and  California,  by 
the  author  of  these  pages. 


CHAPTER    IX 


1712    TO     1718. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION  ENDED  BY  THE 
TREATIES  OF  UTRECHT — GRANT>  OF  LOUISIANA  BY  Louis 
XIV.  TO  CROZAT — LA  MOTTE  CADILLAC  AND  EPINAY  GOV 
ERNORS  OF  LOUISIANA — DEATH  OF  Louis  XIV.  AND  ESTAB 
LISHMENT  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  ORLEANS  AS  REGENT  OF  FRANCE 
— FIRST  DISTURBANCES  AMONG  THE  NATCHES  INDIANS 

QUELLED     BY    BlENVILLE EXPEDITIONS    OF     ST.    DENIS    TO 

MEXICO,    LEADING    TO    THE    ESTABLISHMENT    OF  THE     SPAN 
IARDS  IN  TEXAS. 

THE  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  begun  in  1701,  continued 
for  ten  years  to  desolate  Europe,  without  producing  any  mate 
rial  change  in  the  relative  positions  of  the  parties,  or  affording  to 
those  by  whom  it  was  commenced,  any  prospect  of  effecting  the 
object  in  view.  At  length,  in  1711,  a  disposition  was  evinced 
on  both  sides,  for  the  conclusion  of  the  struggle,  in  consequence 
of  the  elevation  of  the  Austrian  claimant  of  the  Spanish  crown, 
to  the  Imperial  throne  of  Germany.  A  negotiation  for  peace,  was 
commenced  between  the  courts  of  France  and  England,  which 
resulted  in  their  agreement  on  certain  points ;  and  the  other  pow 
ers  having  been  induced  to  join  in  this  attempt  to  settle  their  dif 
ferences,  a  congress  of  plenipotentiaries  of  the  principal  sovereign 
states,  was  assembled  at  Utrecht  in  Holland  in  January,  1712. 

After  several  months  spent  in  manoeuvres  on  the  part  of  some  of 
the  powers  represented  at  Utrecht,  to  hasten,  and  of  others  to  pre 
vent  certain  arrangements,  during  which  the  war  continued  with 
unabated  fury,  a  cessation  of  arms  between  Great  Britain  and 
France  was  proclaimed  in  August.  The  British  forces  were 
then  immediately  withdrawn  from  the  allied  army;  the  remaining 
members  of  that  alliance,  with  the  exception  of  the  Emperor  of 


280  GENERAL  PEACE  OF  UTRECHT.  [1712. 

Germany,  successively  relinquished  their  opposition  to  the  scheme 
presented  and  admitted  by  the  principal  po\\  ers  on  each  side ; 
and  on  the  10th  of  September,  the  preliminaries  of  a  general 
peace  were  signed,  agreeably  to  which,  separate  negotiations  were 
begun  between  the  several  States. 

The  French  Government  had,  meanwhile,  received  a  petition 
from  Antoine  Crozat,  an  opulent  merchant  of  Paris,  for  the  cession 
of  the  trade  of  the  Mississippi  regions  to  him,  during  a  certain 
space  of  time  and  under  certain  conditions,  to  which  no  defini 
tive  answer  was  at  first  given.  In  the  spring  of  1712,  however, 
•M.  Diron  d'Artaguette  returned  from  Louisiana,  and  presented  to 
the  ministers  his  report  on  the  state  of  that  country  and  of  the 
French  colony  established  in  it,  which  was  so  unfavorable,  as  to 
render  them  willing  to  accede  to  the  plan  proposed  by  Crozat,  for 
their  relief  from  a  charge  thus  unpromising.  It  was,  therefore,  soon 
arranged,  that  Louisiana  should  be  granted  to  the  great  capitalist, 
on  terms  apparently  more  liberal  than  he  had  expected  ;  but  the 
matter  was  to  be  kept  secret,  until  the  negotiations  in  progress  at 
Utrecht  should  have  been  brought  to  an  issue. 

The  preliminaries  of  the  general  peace  reached  Paris  on  the 
12th  of  September,  and  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month,  Louis 
XIV.  signed  a  charter,*  granting  to  Crozat  and  his  heirs,  the  ex 
clusive  commerce  of  the  whole  division  of  America  entitled 
Louisiana,  for  fifteen  years,  writh  the  perpetual  possession  of  all 
mines  which  might  be  discovered,  and  of  all  settlements,  manu 
factories,  and  other  establishments  which  might  be  formed  in  it, 
during  that  space  of  time,  upon  conditions  the  least  onerous  to 
the  grantee.  This  concession  was,  howrever,  kept  secret  for 
some  time,  during  which  the  negotiations  between  the  several 
powers  were  in  progress ;  and  no  measures  were  taken  to  carry 
it  into  execution,  until  the  general  peace  had  been  secured  by 
the  particular  treaties  concluded  at  Utrecht  in  April,  1713. 

By  these  treaties,  the  Protestant  succession  in  England  was 
recognised  and  in  a  manner  guarantied :  and  Philip  V.  was  ac 
knowledged  as  King  of  Spain,  upon  his  renunciation  for  himself 
and  his  descendants  of  all  claims  to  the  throne  of  France ;  whilst 
the  other  Princes  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  in  like  manner,  re- 

*  A  translation  of  this  Charter  will  be  found  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations 
at  the  end  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  F. 


1713.]  TREATIES  OF  UTRECHT.  281 

nounced  their  pretensions  to  the  crown  of  Spain.  The  latter 
crown  was  deprived  of  Gibraltar  and  Minorca,  which  were  se 
cured  to  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  of  Sicily,  which  became  the 
property  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  of  Naples  and  Lombardy, 
which  were  assigned  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany  as  Duke  of 
Austria.  In  America,  Cape  Breton  and  other  islands  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  were  admitted  to  belong  to  France;  but 
Great  Britain  was  to  possess  all  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories,  and 
Newfoundland,  and  "  Nova  Scotia  or  Acadie  with  its  ancient 
boundaries"  and  dependencies  of  all  kinds,  in  their  fullest  extent. 
The  French  were  not  to  disturb  or  molest  "  the  Five  Nations  of 
Indians  subject  to  the  dominion  of  Great  Britain,  nor  the  other 
natives  of  America  who  are  the  friends  to  the  same;"  and  it  was 
"  to  be  exactly  and  distinctly  settled  by  commissaries,  who  are, 
and  who  ought  to  be  accounted  the  subjects  and  friends  of  Britain 
or  of  France."  Other  commissaries  were  also  to  be  appointed, 
who  were  to  determine  within  the  space  of  a  year,  "  the  limits 
between  the  said  Bay  of  Hudson,  and  the  places  appertaining  to 
the  French,"  which  limits  were  never  to  be  transgressed  by  the 
subjects  of  either  party;  the  same  commissaries  being  moreover 
charged  "  to  describe  and  settle  in  like  manner,  the  boundaries 
between  the  other  British  and  French  colonies  in  those  pa\ts." 

The  dismemberment  of  the  Spanish  empire  by  the  alienation 
of  Gibraltar,  Minorca,  Sicily,  Naples  and  Lombardy,  was  a  se 
vere  blow  to  the  pride  of  the  nation ;  and  still  more  galling  to  Philip 
V.,  was  the  forced  renunciation  of  his  claims  to  the  throne  of 
France.  The  only  person  possessing  a  title  to  that  throne,  supe 
rior  to  his  own,  was  the  son  of  his  eldest  brother,  then  a  sickly  child 
of  three  years  old,  on  whose  death  without  issue,  the  crown  would 
pass,  in  virtue  of  the  renunciation  of  Philip,  to  the  Duke  of  Or 
leans,  the  son  of  the  younger  brother  of  Louis  XIV. ;  and  thus  by 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  was  the  fair  prospect  of  inheriting  the  mag 
nificent  realm  of  France  to  be  surrendered,  for  the  certainty  of 
possessing  the  inferior  dominion  of  Spain  and  the  Indies.  The 
alternative  was  most  distressing  to  Philip  V.,  who  did  not  submit 
to  it,  without  the  internal  resolution,  not  to  abide  by  his  renun 
ciation,  in  case  the  death  of  his  young  nephew  should  afford  an 
opportunity  for  disavowing  it. 

By  the  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  it  was  admitted 
36 


282  TREATY    BETWEEN    ENGLAND    AND    SPAIN.  [1713. 

"as  a  fundamental  rule,"  that  the  navigation  and  comme.ce  of 
foreign  nations,  with  regard  to  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  should 
remain  as  it  was  on  the  death  of  the  late  King  Charles  II.  of 
Spain,  in  1700;  and  that  no  license  should  be  granted  to  the 
French  or  any  other  nation,  to  trade  with  those  countries,  other 
wise  than  according  to  treaties  already  existing,  and  to  an  Asiento 
de  negros,  or  treaty  for  the  supply  of  negro  slaves  to  the  Spanish 
colonies,  by  British  subjects  exclusively,  which  was  immediately 
to  be  concluded,  in  place  of  the  similar  contract  made  between 
France  and  Spain  in  1701.  In  order  farther  to  countervail  the 
influence  of  France,  it  was  stipulated  that  neither  the  King  of 
Spain,  nor  his  successors,  should  ever  alienate  from  the  crown  of 
that  nation,  or  in  any  way  transfer  to  the  French,  or  any  other 
power,  any  portion  of  the,  Spanish  territories  in  America;  the 
Queen  of  England  at  the  same  time  binding  herself  to  employ 
her  influence  and  aid,  in  order  "  that  the  ancient  limits  of  the 
Spanish  dominions  be  restored  and  settled,  as  they  stood  in  the 
time  of  King  Charles  II.,  if  it  should  appear  that  they  have  been 
broken  into,  and  lessened  in  any  part  since  his  death." 

These  last  mentioned  provisions  of  the  treaty'  betw sen  Great 
Britain  and  Spain  were,  doubtless,  intended  to  apply  to  Louisi 
ana,  wjiere  the  British  were  anxious  to  restrict  the  French 
within  as  narrow  limits  as  possible.  The  reference  to  the  extent 
of  the  "  Spanish  dominions  in  the  West  Indies,"  was  most 
vague,  as  their  boundaries  were  never  less  accurately  determined, 
than  in  the  time  of  King  Charles  II. ;  and  to  place  the  exercise 
of  trade  and  navigation  in  those  parts,  as  it  was  during  the  reign 
of  that  monarch,  was  only  to  open  the  way  for  future  difficulties, 
between  the  two  nations.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  result. 

In  like  manner,  the  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  France, 
left  undetermined  many  important  questions  respecting  America, 
from  which  difficulties  could  not  fail  to  arise.  Commissaries  may 
settle  the  amount  of  money  to  be  paid  by  one  nation  as  damages 
to  the  subjects  of  the  other:  the  party  which  pays,  loses  nothing 
in  dignity,  and  little  or  nothing  in  resources;  and  if  the  com 
pensation  is  insufficient,  the  loss  falls  usually  on  only  a  few 
individuals,  and  is  soon  forgotten  by  the  public.  Very  differ 
ent  is  the  effect  when  extent  of  territory  is  in  question:  for 
the  transfer  of  even  a  few  square  miles  of  land,  from  one 


1713.]          TREATY    BETWEEN    ENGLAND    AND    FRANCE.  233 

nation  to  another,  may  make  an  incalculable  change  in  their 
relative  positions,  as  to  commerce,  or  military  or  political 
strength ;  and  even  when  the  real  or  apparent  value  of  the  territory 
is  trifling,  and  ample  compensation  is  made  for  it  in  another  way, 
the  nation  surrendering,  is  always  regarded  as  losing  in  dignity, 
and  a  map  becomes  a  perpetual  source  of  annoyance  and  disa 
greeable  reflection,  to  its  government  and  people. 

For  the  settlement  of  the  limits  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  country, 
a  basis  was  presented  by  the  charter  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  which  defined  the  claim  of  Great  Britain,  as  extending  to 
all  the  territories  drained  by  streams  falling  into  that  bay,  not 
previously  possessed  by  a  Christian  prince  or  people,  and  to  none 
other;  arid  the  maps  of  that  day  accordingly,  represented  the  line 
of  separation  between  the  British  and  the  French  possessions  in 
that  part  of  America,  as  extending  along  the  highlands  dividing 
the  waters  which  flow  to  Hudson's  Bay,  from  those  falling  into  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  great  lakes.*  With  regard  to  Nova  Scotia 
or  Acadie,  there  were  no  grounds  for  determining  what  was  to  be 
surrendered  by  France  under  either  of  those  names.  The  original 
charter  of  Henry  IV.  might  be  construed  as  embracing  in  Acadie, 
the  whole  division  of  America,  between  the  40th  and  the  46th 
parallels  of  north  latitude;  while  the  charter  of  James  I.  to  Alex 
ander,  included  in  Nova  Scotia,  all  east  of  a  line  drawn  through 
the  river  St.  Croix,  from  the  Atlantic  northward  to  the  St.  Law 
rence  ;  and  no  description  of  the  boundaries  had  been  made  in 
any  of  the  treaties,  by  which  the  same  territories  were  previously 
transferred  from  the  one  party  to  the  other.  The  provisions  re 
specting  the  Indian  nations,  were  also  couched  in  language  so 
vague  as  to  afford  room  for  various  interpretation.  But  on  all 
these  points  the  plenipotentiaries,  like  those  who  concluded  the 
treaties  of  Ryswick,  merely  proposed  to  remove  the  minor  ques 
tions  involved  in  them,  out  of  the  way  of  the  general  pacification. 

A  new  subject  for  disputes  between  the  three  European  nations, 
holding  dominion  in  North  America,  was  at  the  same  time  pro 
duced  by  the  charter  granted  to  Crozat,  the  preamble  to  which 
declares — that  the  King  .having,  in  1683,  ordered  a  discovery  to 
be  made  of  the  territories  between  New  France  and  New  Mexico, 
and  M.  de  la  Salle  to  whom  this  duty  was  entrusted,  having  suc- 

*  See  the  map  of  Senex  mentioned  at  page  278. 


284  GRANT    OF    LOUISIANA    TO    CROZAT.  [1713. 

ceeded  in  confirming  the  belief,  that  a  communication  by  means 
of  great  rivers,  might  be  established  between  Canada  and  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  orders  had  been  given,  immediately  after  the  peace 
of  Ryswick,  to  found  a  colony  and  maintain  garrisons,  by  which 
the  possession  of  the  territories  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
between  Carolina  on  the  east,  and  Old  and  New  Mexico  on  the 
west,  had  been  preserved :  but,  that  subsequent  wars  having  pre 
vented  His  Majesty  from  deriving  all  the  advantages  expected 
from  those  dominions,  he  had  resolved  to  grant  to  M.  Crozat,  the 
entire  commerce  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  embracing  all  the 
territories  between  New  Mexico  and  Carolina,  traversed  by  the 
Mississippi  and  all  its  branches  below  the  Illinois,  together  with 
the  port  and  harbor  of  Dauphine  island  or  Mobile,  and  the  inter 
vening  countries.* 

This  declaration  by  Louis  XIV.,  of  the  extent  and  limits  of 
the  portion  of  America  claimed  by  him,  under  the  name  of  Lou 
isiana,  was  as  definite  as  the  circumstances  of  the  case  required, 
and  as  the  state  of  geographical  knowledge  could  have  allowed. 
France  thus  asserted  her  right,  to  the  whole  division  of  the  con 
tinent  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  Mobile  rivers  and  their 
tributaries,  which  was  supposed  to  extend  eastward  to  the  Eng 
lish  provinces  of  Carolina,  and  westward  to  those  of  Spain  in 
New  Mexico;  the  countries  of  the  Illinois  being  attached  to  New 
France,  while  those  farther  south  were  granted  to  Crozat.  Of 
the  territories  thus  assigned,  very  little  was  known  beyond  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  large  rivers  above  named.  The  English 
had  made  no  settlements  west  of  the  head  waters  of  streams  falling 
directly  into  the  Atlantic ;  and  New  Mexico  was  only  the  general 
name  for  the  vast  interior  tracts  on  the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  sources 
of  which  were  believed  to  lie  far  north  of  their  real  positions.  Of 
the  extent  of  Louisiana  upon  the  Mexican  Gulf,  eastward  from  the 
Mobile,  and  westward  from  the  Mississippi,  nothing  is  said  in  the 
charter ;  and  as  the  trade  in  the  territory  granted,  would  necessa 
rily  be  confined  for  a  long  period  to  the  vicinity  of  those  two 
principal  streams,  the  more  exact  determination  of  its  limits, 
might  well  be  deferred,  until  the  interests  of  France,  and  of  the 

*  See  the  Preamble  to  the  Charter,  which  may  be  found  translated  in  full 
among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the 
letter  F. 


1713.]   EXTENT  OF  LOUISIANA  AS  CLAIMED  BY  FRANCE.    285 

other  two  nations  should  require  it.  The  description  of  the  ter 
ritory  claimed  for  France,  was  indeed  nearly  the  same  in  charac 
ter,  with  that  of  the  countries  included  in  the  charter  to  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  which  evidently  served  as  a  model  for  the 
other;  and  as  the  Utrecht  treaty,  directly  recognised  the  validity 
of  the  English  grant,  Louis  XIV.  might  consider  himself  equally 
entitled  to  assert  in  the  same  way,  his  right  to  a  portion  of  the 
New  World,  which  had  been  already  in  part  explored  and  settled 
by  his  subjects,  and  in  which  no  other  European  nation  had  made 
any  recent  discovery,  or  formed  any  establishment  whatsoever. 

The  title  of  France  to  the  Mississippi  and  Mobile  countries 
was,  in  fine,  as  nearly  perfect,  as  any  title  to  countries  not  com 
pletely  occupied,  could  be;*  and  infinitely  better,  than  those  ad 
vanced  with  regard  to  the  same  portion  of  America — by  Spain,  in 
virtue  of  the  Papal  concession  or  of  first  discovery — or  by  Great 
Britain  as  founded  on  her  charters  of  New  England,  Virginia  and 
Carolina,  embracing  together  the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent 
from  the  29th  to  the  46th  parallels — or  by  either  of  those  powers, 
on  the  grounds  of  contiguity  to  its  settled  dominions.  From  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  already  extended  a 
line  of  French  posts  and  settlements,  which  were  daily  increasing 
in  number  and  in  population ;  and  considering  the  vast  breadth 
of  the  territories  still  unoccupied  and  unexplored,  separating  the 
Mississippi  regions  from  the  settlements  of  the  other  nations  on 
either  side,  the  presumption  was  fair,  that  those  regions  claimed 
by  France  would  be  peopled,  and  provided  with  means  of  defence, 
sufficient  to  constitute  an  effective  and  unquestionable  possession, 
long  before  they  could  be  reached  in  the  natural  progress  of  colo 
nization,  from  the  English  or  the  Spanish  provinces.  That  this 
presumption  was  generally  entertained,  at  the  time  when  the  char 
ter  was  granted,  is  certain  from  the  extreme  jealousy  and  alarm 
created  by  its  publication  in  England  and  Spain,  as  well  as  in 
the  American  colonies  of  those  nations;  in  all  of  which,  great  and 
immediate  danger  was  apprehended,  from  the  establishment  of  the 
French  dominion  over  the  extensive  and  fertile  division  of  the 
New  World,  thus  formally  claimed  by  that  power.  The  political 
situation  of  Europe,  however,  prevented  any  active  measures 
from  being  taken  on  the  subject,  at  that  time,  by  either  Great 

*  See  observations  on  this  subject  at  pages  180  et  seq. 


286          LA    MOTTE    CADILLAC    GOVERNOR    OF    LOUISIANA.    [1713. 

Britain  or  Spain,  except  with  regard  to  the  conduct  which  was 
to  be  pursued  by  the  authorities  of  their  respective  provinces, 
adjacent  to  Louisiana;  and  no  opposition  was  made  to  the  im 
mediate  enjoyment  by  Crozat,  of  all  the  advantages  which  he 
might  derive  from  his  grant. 

By  the  terms  of  his  charter,  Crozat,  and  those  to  whom  the 
same  privileges  might  be  specially  granted  on  his  recommendation, 
were  to  enjoy  the  perpetual  possession  of  all  the  lands  in  Louis 
iana,  which  they  might  bring  under  cultivation,  and  of  all  the  es 
tablishments  for  manufactures  6r  mining,  which  they  might  form 
within  fifteen  years  and  continue  to  work,  on  their  payment  to 
the  crown,  of  one-fifth  of  all  precious  metals  and  stones,  and  one- 
tenth  of  all  other  metals,  thence  transported  to  France;  and  all 
goods  introduced  by  him  into  that  country,  from  France,  were  to 
be  exempt  from  duties  of  every  kind.  The  colony  was  to  be  gov 
erned  according  to  the  general  ordinances  and  regulations  for  the 
colonies,  and  the  laws  and  customs  of  Paris,  through  a  governor 
and  council  appointed  by  the  king.  The  officers  and  soldiers  were 
to  be  maintained  by  the  crown,  for  nine  years,  after  which  the 
expense  was  to  be  borne  by  Crozat:  and  he  was  to  send,  annually, 
to  Louisiana  two  ships,  each  of  which  was  to  carry,  free  from  ex 
pense,  ten  young  men  and  as  many  young  women,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  provisions  and  ammunition,  for  the  royal  troops.  These 
were  certainly  liberal  terms  ;  but  the  French  Government  could 
have  done  much  more,  in  order  to  free  itself  from  the  other  burthens 
of  the  colony,  whilst  at  the  same  time  assuring  its  continuance. 

M.  de  la  Motte  Cadillac  had  been,  as  already  said,  appointed 
Governor  of  Louisiana  in  May,  1710;  and  when  Crozat  received 
the  grant  of  that  country,  some  understanding  seems  to  have  been 
established  between  him  and  the  governor  etect,  by  which  the 
latter  was  to  share  the  profits  of  the  enterprise.  La  Motte  Ca 
dillac  had  been  for  many  years  the  Commandant  of  the  French 
posts  on  the  upper  Lakes  of  Canada,  and  had  laid  the  foundations 
of  Detroit  in  1701 ;  his  conduct  there  was  however,  in  many  in 
stances,  unsatisfactory  to  the  government,  as  he  had  produced  diffi 
culties  between  the  French  and  the  surrounding  Indian  nations, 
by  his  irritable  and  overbearing  manner,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  had  been  removed  from  his  command.  For  what  reasons  he 
had  been  considered  worthy  of  confidence,  as  the  director  of  the 


1713.]         PLANS  OF  CROZAT  FOR  LOUISIANA.         •  287 

colony  in  Louisiana,  is  not  known ;  but,  he  probably,  had  influ 
ence  enough  to  render  the  ministers  willing  to  bestow  on  him  a 
situation,  which  they  must  have  considered  as  wholly  unimportant, 
and  scarcely  desirable.  The  other  principal  officers  of  the  colony, 
were  M.  de  Bienville  as  Military  Commandant,  M.  Duclos  as 
Commissary  of  the  King,  M.  Lebas  as  Comptroller  of  Accounts, 
and  Messieurs  La  Loire  des  Ursins  and  Dirigoin  as  directors  of  the 
concerns  of  Crozat ;  these  with  one  or  two  others,  were  to 
compose  a  Council,  which  was  to  be  consulted  by  the  Governor  on 
all  matters  of  importance.  Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of 
the  treaty  of  peace,  all  these  officers  except  Bienville,  who  was 
already  in  Louisiana,  embarked  for  Dauphine  island,  where  they 
arrived  on  the  17th  of  May,  1713 ;  and  an  organized  system  of 
administration  was  thus  at  length  provided  for  the  colony,  which 
had  hitherto  been  left  at  the  disposition  of  a  few  individuals. 

The  new  rulers  were  resolved  that  all  should  thenceforth  go  on 
methodically ;  and  the  representatives  of  Crozat's  interests  were 
instructed  to  maintain  in  Louisiana  the  sa*me  order,  the  same  sub 
mission  to  the  will  of  their  chief,  and  the  same  exclusive  devotion 
to  his  interests,  which  reigned  in  his  counting-house  at  Paris. 
Agreeably  to  the  plan  proposed,  the  lands  were  to  be  granted  by  the 
crown  in  tracts  of  a  certain  extent  each,  to  individuals,  who  could 
not  receive  the  confirmation  of  their  title,  or  dispose  of  any  portion 
of  the  tract,  until  at  least  two-thirds  of  it  had  been  cleared  for 
cultivation.  All  commercial  operations  whatsoever,  were  to  be 
carried  on  by  Crozat  and  his  agents :  Dauphine  island  was  to 
be  the  great  depository  of  goods,  imported  or  for  exportation; 
other  depositories  were  to  be  formed  in  the  interior,  at  places  con 
venient  to  the  Mississippi,  to  and  from  which  the  articles  of  com 
merce  were  to  be  transported  by  water  at  stated  seasons  ;  and  at 
these  places,  all  purchases  and  sales  were  to  be  made  on  account 
of  the  grantee,  according  to  a.  tariff  of  prices  fixed  for  each. 
The  sum  allowed  by  the  government  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
colony,  amounting  to  about  sixty  thousand  livres  or  ten  thousand 
dollars  annually,  was  to  be  paid  at  Paris  to  Crozat ;  from  whose 
agents  in  Louisiana,  the  Royal  Commissary  was  to  receive  the 
equivalent,  in  money  for  the  pay  of  the  officers,  or  in  goods  or 
provisions,  at  the  prices  fixed  by  the  tariffs  at  the  different  posts, 
for  the  support  of  the  soldiers  and  laborers. 


288    -MEXICAN    PORTS    CLOSED    AGAINST    THE    FRENCH.      [1713. 

Means  were  at  the  same  time  employed  to  attract  attention  to  the 
colony,  by  the  publication  of  accounts  and  maps  of  Louisiana, 
representing  the  country  and  the  advantages  offered  by  it  in  the 
most  favorable  manner ;  among  which  was  the  interesting  narra 
tive  of  La  Salle's  expedition  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  by  Joutel,  who 
was  then  living  in  retirement  at  Rouen.  Of  the  knowledge  of 
those  regions  possessed  by  Crozat  himself,  some  idea  may  be 
formed,  from  the  fact,  that  he  proposed  to  have  his  merchandise 
carried  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  Ohio  and  the  Illinois,  in  sailing 
vessels;  being  thus,  evidently,  unaware  of  the  delays  to  which 
they  would  be  subjected,  from  the  mighty  current  and  the  innu 
merable  bends  and  sinuosities  of  the  stream,  and  of  the  perils 
which  they  would  hourly  encounter  from  sand-bars,  and  from  the 
trunks  of  great  trees,  either  floating  on  the  surface,  or  imbedded 
firmly,  like  rocks,  in  the  bottom. 

In  a  country  containing  less  than  four  hundred  inhabitants,* 
exclusive  of  savages,  Crozat  could  not  have  expected  that  his 
commercial  operations  Would  at  first  be  very^extensive ;  though 
he  appears  to  have  entertained  anticipations  somewhat  extrava 
gant  on  that  point :  his  great  object,  however,  was  to  obtain  a 
share  of  the  commerce  with  the  Spanish  colonies,  the  extent  and 
value  of  which  was  then  rnuch  exaggerated.  Accordingly  his  first 
ship,  which  carried  out  La  Motte  Cadillac  to  Louisiana,  in  1713, 
had  been  laden  with  the  most  rare  and  costly  articles  of  French 
manufacture;  and  immediately  after  the  landing  of  that  officer  at 
Dauphine  island,  she  was  despatched  to  Vera  Cruz,  for  the  sale 
of  her  cargo.  But  before  she  reached  that  place,  orders  had 
been  received  there,  for  the  revival  and  enforcement  of  all  the  pro 
hibitory  regulations  with  regard  to  commerce,  navigation  and  set 
tlement  in  America,  which  had  been  relaxed  during  the  late  war. 
Crozat's  ship  was,  in  consequence,  not  allowed  to  land  any  por 
tion  of  her  cargo  at  Vera  Cruz  ;  and  as  no  purchasers  could  be 
found  for  her  rich  silks  and  delicate  wines  in  Louisiana,  and  they 

*  According  to  the  report,  made  to  the  government  by  Diron  d'Artaguette  on 
his  return  to  France  in  1712,  Louisiana  contained  twenty-eight  French  families, 
and  twenty  negroes,  in  addition  to  two  companies  of  infantry  of  fifty  men  each, 
and  seventy-five  Canadians  in  the  service  of  the  government ;  making  in  all  three 
hundred  and  eighty  persons.  The  population  of  the  Illinois  not  included  in  this 
estimate,  may  have  been  two  hundred. 


1713.]  WRETCHED    CONDITION    OF    LOUISIANA.  289 

could  not  be  sold  in  any  othep'French  colony,  she  was  obliged  to 
return  with  them  to  France. 

Crozat  was  thus  rudely  awakened  from  his  golden  dream,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  soothe  him,  in  the  communications  which  he 
received,  respecting  the  state  and  prospects  of  his  colony  in  Lou 
isiana.  Deplorable,  indeed,  was  the  condition  of  that  colony,  as 
depicted  in  the  sarcastic  despatches  of  La  Motte  Cadillac,  to  the 
government.  The  country  is  pronounced  by  him  entirely  unfit 
for  the  support  of  a  population,  producing  neither  grains,  fruits 
nor  vegetables  for  food,  except  a  little  Indian  corn,  the  crops  of 
which  often  failed  in  consequence  of  the  drought:  indigo,  to 
bacco  and  silk,  might  indeed  be  raised  in  the  southern  portion, 
and  wheat  in  the  Illinois;  but  several  years  would  be  required 
for  the  formation  of  establishments  for  those  purposes,  during 
which  flour  and  all  the  other  necessaries  of  life,  must  be  brought 
from  France.  The  colonists  are  represented,  more  correctly,  as 
nearly  all,  miserable  scoundrels,  sunk  in  the  lowest  depths  of  in 
dolence  and  vice:*  those — writes  the  Governor — who  made  any 
attempts  at  agriculture  soon  abandoned  them,  in  despair;  and  the 
only  branches  of  industry  carried  on  with  success,  are  tavern- 
keeping  and  a  little  smuggling  trade  with  Pensacola,  by  which,  and 
the  embezzlement  of  the  public  funds,  the  Commandant  Bienville, 
and  his  brothers  Chateaugue  and  Serigny,  are  said'  to  have  ac 
cumulated  large  amounts  of  property.  The  plans  of  Crozat  for 
the  commerce  of  the  interior,  were  treated  by  La  Motte  Cadillac 
as  utterly  absurd  ;  and  he  maintained  that  the  only  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  the  settlements,  would  be  by  the  discovery 
of  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  by  the  promotion  of  direct  or 
contraband  trade  with  the  Spanish  and  English  colonies  during 
peace,  and  by  the  facilities  which  would  be  afforded  to  privateers, 

*  "  According  to  the  old  proverb,"  says  La  Motte  Cadillac,  in  one  of  his  let 
ters  to  the  Minister  M.  de  Pontchartrain,  "  Bad  country,  bad  people.  The  in 
habitants  of  Louisiana  are  composed  of  the  dregs  of  Canada,  real  gallow's  birds, 
without  subordination,  or  respect  for  religion  or  government,  given  up  to  vice, 
and  caring  for  nothing,  but  Indian  women,  whom  they  prefer  to  the  French. 
The  Canadians  and  the  unmarried  soldiers  keep  these  women  as  slaves,  under 
the  pretext  that  they  have  no  other  means  of  getting  their  clothes  washed,  their 
food  cooked,  or  their  cabins  swept :  this  conduct  is  intolerable. 

"  As  for  churches,  the  people  would  be  delighted  to  remain  without  them  ;  the 
priests  and  missionaries  assure  me.  that  the  greater  number  have  not  taken  thte 
sacraments  for  eight  years." 

37 


290       LA    MOTTE    CADILLAC    AT    WAR    WITH    BIENVILLE.     [1713. 

in  the  event  of  war  with  those  nations.  The  Indians  were  mere 
beggars,  from  whom  nothing  was  to  be  feared  or  to  be  gained; 
so  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  continuing  the  presents  to  them, 
which  they  had  been  encouraged  by  M.  de  Bienville  for  his  own 
purposes,  to  demand. 

In  these  communications  from  the  Governor  of  Louisiana,  there 
was  much  truth ;  though  his  remarks  were  always  more  or  less 
distorted  by  prejudices,  and  they  exhibited  undoubted  evidences 
of  the  extreme  irritability  of  his  disposition,  rendering  hjm  but  ill 
adapted  for  the  duties  which  he  had  undertaken.  This  same  irrita 
bility  and  jealousy  on  his  part,  had  soon  placed  him  at  variance 
with  all  the  other  high  officers  of  the  colony,  especially  with  Bien- 
ville,*  who  seems  to  have  returned  his  outbreaks  of  animosity,  by  the 
most  cold  and  measured  contempt.  There  was  also  great  difficulty 

*"  The  soldiers  do  but  follow  the  example  of  their  Commandant  M.  de  Bienville, 
their  Major  M.  de  Boisbriant,  their  Adjutant  M.  Paillou,  and  Messrs,  de  Cha- 
teaugu£  the  Captain,  and  Serigny  the  Lieutenant ;  to  all  of  whom  I  have  declared, 
that  I  should  inform  you  of  their  conduct ;  and  this  has  only  made  them  violent 
against  me,  sure  as  they  are  of  the  support  of  the  Commissary  Duclos.  The 
soldiers  declare  openly,  that  they  will  desert,  and  the  other  inhabitants  that 
they  will  quit  the  country,  if  they  are  deprived  of  their  women ;  and  they  all 
insist,  that  the  king  does  not  disapprove  of  their  proceedings  in  this  respect,  as 
the  Commissary,  although  he  has  several  servants,  bought  an  Indian  girl,  so  soon 
as  he  arrived  here.  They  are  all  badly  disciplined,  there  being  no  one  here 
capable  of  forming  soldiers.  M.  de  Bienville,  the  king's  lieutenant,  came  into 
the  country  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  without  having  served  either  in  France  or 
in  Canada;  and  his  brother  M.  de  Chateaugue,  as  well  as  the  Major  Boisbriant, 
were  still  younger  on  their  arrival  in  Louisiana.  The  Chief  Director,  M.  Diri- 
goin,  has  no  ability,  and  the  Comptroller  Lebas,  is  very  dissipated  and  thinks 
of  nothing  but  his  pleasures." — Letter  from  La  Motte  Cadillac. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Royal  Commissary  Duclos  says  of  the  Commandant — 
"  I  cannot  praise  too  highly  the  admirable  manner  in  which  M.  de  Bienville 
has  conducted  himself  towards  the  Indians,  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  submis 
sion.  His  success,  in  this  respect,  has  been  due  entirely  to  his  honorable  char 
acter,  and  to  the  scrupulousness  with  which  he  observes  his  promises,  as  well  as 
to  the  firmness  and  equity  of  his  decisions  in  the  controversies  between  the  dif 
ferent  Indian  nations,  which  select  him  as  the  arbiter.  Most  especially  has  he 
conciliated  their  esteem,  by  discountenancing  all  acts  of  robbery  or  depredation 
committed  against  the  Indians,  by  Frenchmen,  who  are,  on  each  occasion,  obliged 
to  make  honorable  amends  to  the  persons  injured."  With  regard  to  articles  in 
tended  for  presents  to  the  Indians,  the  commissary  warns  the  minister  against 
trusting  them  to  La  Motte  Cadillac,  as  he  would  certainly  convert  them  to  his 
own  use ;  and  recommends  that  they  should  be  left  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  M.  de 
Bienville,  "  who  is  better  acquainted  than  any  one  else,  with  the  strength  of  the 
different  nations,  and  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  presents  to  be  made  to  each." 


1714.]       BIENVILLE  COMMANDANT  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


291 


in  organizing  the  Council  of  Government,  which  was  to  include, 
in  addition  to  the  high  officers  above  named,  two  persons  chosen 
from  among  the  most  respectable  inhabitants,  and  of  those  pro 
posed,  La  Motte  Cadillac  objected  to  one  on  account  of  his  being 
a  surgeon,  and  to  another,  Lafreniere,  the  principal  merchant  in 
Louisiana,  on  the  more  reasonable  grounds,  that  he  could  neither 
write  nor  read.  This  body  was  however,  at  length  constituted,  and 
proceeded  to  business,  with  the  store-keeper  as  Attorney  General, 
and  a  soldier  of  the  garrison  of  Mobile,  as  Secretary  and  Archi 
vist  ;  and  one  of  its  first  acts  was  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
Parliament  of  Paris,  by  refusing  to  register  the  Charter  to  Crozat. 
Crozat,  notwithstanding  these  disappointments,  persevered  in 
his  scheme ;  and  in  the  following  year  he  sent  out  vessels  laden 
with  goods  more  suitable  to  the  wants  and  means  of  the  people, 
and  carrying  colonists  male  and  female,  the.  latter  of  whom 
served  to  afford  a  theme  for  some  caustic  remarks  by  the  gov 
ernor.*  Crozat  at  the  same  time  obtained  from  the  king  a  de 
cree,  for  the  more  effectual  enforcement  of  his  commercial  regula 
tions,  which  rendered  him  very  unpopular  in  the  colony,  as  it 
destroyed  the  contraband  trade  with  Pensacola,  almost  the  only 
source  of  profit  to  the  people.  The  government  moreover,  on 
his  request,  ordered  that  several  forts  should  be  erected  and  garri 
soned  at  its  expense,  on  points  in  the  interior,  particularly  with 
the  object  of  restraining  the  English,  whose  traders  from  Caro 
lina,  were  penetrating  those  countries  in  all  directions,  even  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  exciting  the  natives  to  hostilities  against  the 
French.  To  the  mortification  of  La  Motte  Cadillac,  however,  the 
superintendence  of  the  works  thus  directed,  was  assigned,  in  dis 
regard  of  all  his  denunciations,  to  Bienville,  who  also  received  a 
commission  as  Commandant  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  branches, 
with  powers  so  much  enlarged,  as  to  render  him  nearly  indepen 
dent  of  the  general  government  of  the  colony. 

*  La  Motte  Cadillac  states  that  the  women  had  all  been  seduced  by  the  captain 
of  the  vessel  which  brought  them  out.  Some  of  them  had,  however,  found  hus 
bands,  and  one  had  been  taken  into  the  service  of  the  Commissary  Duclos,  wlw 
would,  no  doubt,  improve  her  morals. 

Bienville  usually  maintained  the  utmost  reserve,  in  speaking  of  the  other  offi 
cers  ;  though  on  one  occasion  he  declared,  that  the  animosity  of  M.  de  la  Motte- 
Cadillac  towards  himself,  arose  from  his  refusal  to  marry  that  gentleman's 
daughter. 


292  THE    JESUITS    IN    THE    ILLINOIS.  [1714. 

Whilst  these  events  were  passing  in  lower  Louisiana  the  Jesuits 
in  the  Illinois  countries  were  steadily  pursuing  their  favorite  ob 
jects,  the  civilization  of  the  natives,  and  their  conversion  to  the 
Christian  religion,  notwithstanding  the  discouragement  which  the 
utter  indifference  of  those  people  was  calculated  to  produce.  In 
vain  did  the  worthy  fathers  constantly  set  the  example  of  industry 
and  temperance;  the  Indians  disdained  labor,  as  a  mark  of  ser 
vitude,  and  preferred  habitual  indolence  and  occasional  de 
bauchery,  to  all  the  comforts  which  regular  employment  could 
secure  to  them.*  To  the  explanations  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  they  listened  very  patiently,  yielding  a  Veady  as 
sent  to  all,  and  frequently  submitting  to  be  baptised,  to  make 
their  confessions  and  to  receive  the  sacraments  :  but  they  often 
required  in  return  the  same  respect  to  their  own  ceremonies,  and 
to  the  harangues  of  their  own  priests,  and  the  sam||f  admission  of 
the  truth  of  their  traditions,  and  the  reasonableness  of  their  ex 
pectations  as  to  the  future;  though  it  does  not  appear,  that  they 
ever  exhibited  the  slightest  inclination  to  persecute,  or  to  punish 
any  one,  for  adherence  to  his  own  religious  belief. 

The  Jesuits  were,  however,  not  to  be  deterred  by  difficulties  of 
this  kind,  which  experience  had  taught  them  to  expect.  They 
persevered  in  spite  of  derision,  obloquy,  blows,  and  the  falling 

*  Interesting  accounts  of  the  establishment  of  the  Jesuit  missions  in  the  Illi 
nois  may  be  found  in  the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,''  particularly  in  the  communications 
of  Fathers  Marest  and  Gravier.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  understand  the  sim 
plicity  if  not  niaiserie,  of  the  portions  of  these  letters  relating  to  the  conversion 
of  the  natives ;  the  paragraphs  in  which  the  soul  of  the  writer,  seems  to  over 
flow  with  joy,  on  account  of  the  success  of  his  labors,  usually  contain  some 
ridiculous  instance  of  the  utter  carelessness  of  the  converts,  or  their  incapacity  to 
comprehend  that  of  which  they  are  supposed  to  be  convinced. 

The  obstacles  to  the  conversion  of  the  aborigines  of  America  to  Christianity, 
are  clearly  shown  by  Hennepin,  in  his  accounts  of  the  character  and  customs  of 
those  people.  He  concludes,  with  reason,  that  all  efforts  for  that  object,  will 
be  vain,  until  the  Indians  shall  have  been  redeemed  from  their  wandering  state, 
which  he,  however,  seems  to  consider  almost  impracticable,  except  in  a  very  few 
cases,  from  their  unconquerable  indolence  and  indifference.  He  treats  as  wholly 
absurd,  all  the  stories  of  conversions  of  tribes  previously  published  in  Europe; 
and  doubts  that  any  thing  has  been  effected  in  the  way  of  the  salvation  of  souls, 
except  by  the  baptism  of  a  few  infants  who  died  immediately  afterwards.  The 
letters  of  the  Jesuits  tend  to  conclusions  scarcely  more  encouraging ;  the  worthy 
fathers,  however,  endeavor  to  console  themselves  and  their  brethren,  for  the 
general  fruitlessness  of  their  labors,  by  dwelling  on  the  extraordinary  piety  of 
a  few  of  their  converts. 


1715.]  DEATH    OF    LOUIS    XIV.  293 

off  of  their  proselytes  ,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  might  in  time 
have  succeeded  in  the  Illinois,  at  least  as  far  as  they  did  in  Cali 
fornia  and  Paraguay,  provided  they  could,  as  in  the  last  named 
countries,  have  kept  the  natives  free  from  communication  with 
other  civilized  people.  But  this  was  impossible,  and  commerce 
there,  as  elsewhere,  proved  the  great  stumbling-block  to  all  such 
schemes.  Wheresoever  the  Jesuit  established  himself,  and  gath 
ered  a  flock  around  him,  there  came  the  trader  from  Montreal  or 
Mobile,  with  his  trinkets,  his  arms  and  ammunition,  his  brandy, 
and  his  joyous  and  generally  licentious  habits  ;  offering  in  all 
respects  a  contrast  to  the  austere  black" gown,  not  at  all  favorable 
to  the  latter  in  the  eyes  of  the  Indians  of  either  sex.  From  that 
moment  the  influence  of  the  Jesuit  declined ;  and  when  he  at 
tempted  to  control  or  restrain  his  neophytes,  their  savage  nature 
often  burst  forth,  so  that  the  palm  of  martyrdom  was,  in  many  cases, 
the  last  consolation  of  the  devoted  disciple  of  St.  Ignatius. 

Between  the  Jesuits  and  the  traders,  there  could  never  be 
friendship  or  cordial  co-operation.  The  missionaries  usually  found 
it  best  to  yield,  which  they  could  do  with  a  good  grace,  when 
ever  it  was  indispensable ;  and  as  the  traders  could  not  venture 
to  provoke  too  far,  a  body  possessing  so  much  influence  with 
their  government,  a  compromise  was  generally  the  result.  The 
traffic  was  conducted  more  regularly  and  fairly  ;  and  the  politic 
priests  closed  their  eyes  on  many  practices,  which  they  were  un 
able  to  prevent.  Some  of  the  traders  moreover  consented  to  be 
united  in  marriage  with  their  Indian  mistresses,  and  to  have  their 
children  baptised  and  instructed  by  the  missionaries;  and  in  this 
manner,  each  mission  was  in  time  surrounded  by  a  village,  com 
posed  of  French,  Indians,  and  half-breeds,  of  whom  the  number 
of  the  latter,  was  continually  increasing. 

In  the  meantime  news  had  been  received  of  a  most  important 
change  in  the  direction  of  the  French  Government.  In  Sep 
tember,  1715,  King  Louis  XIV.,  quitted  the  world,  which  he 
had  so  long  enjoyed  and  disturbed,  leaving  the  throne  of  France 
to  his  great-grandson,  Louis  XV.,  a  delicate  boy  of  five  years  old. 
By  the  will  of  the  late  monarch,  a  Council  of  Regency  was  to 
conduct  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  during  the  minority  of  the 
young  sovereign ;  but  this  disposition  was  immediately  set  aside 
by  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  which  unanimously  appointed,  as 


294  THE    DUKE    OF    ORLEANS    REGENT    OF    FRANCE.        [1715. 

sole  Regent,  Philip  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  nephew  of  Louis  XIV. 
and  heir  presumptive  to  the  throne,  in  virtue  of  the  renunciation 
of  Philip  V.  of  Spain.  Other  events  which  materially  influenced 
the  destinies  of  Louisiana,  soon  followed  this  appointment;  and 
those  events,  probably,  proceeded  directly  from  the  trifling  cir 
cumstances  which  will  now  be  related. 

In  the  spring  of  1715,  strong  expectations  of  advantage  from 
Louisiana,  were  raised  by  a  Canadian  named  Dutisne,  who  had 
received  from  the  Indians  in  the  Illinois,  some  pieces  of  silver 
ore,  with  the  assurance  that  they  had  been  obtained  from  a  rich 
mine  in  that  country.  As  the  specimens  presented,  contained 
a  large  proportion  of  pure  silver,  La  Motte  Cadillac  despatch 
ed  the  joyful  intelligence  to  Europe,  \vhere  it  was  extensively 
circulated  and  believed;  and  he  himself  hastened  up  the  Mis 
sissippi  to  the  country  in  which  they  were  said  to  have  been 
found,  but  on  his  arrival  there,  it  appeared  that  they  had  all 
been  brought  by  Indians  from  New  Mexico.  The  governor 
then  caused  a  smelting  furnace  to  be  erected  at  a  lead  mine  on 
the  Marameg,  or  Merrimack  river,  which  enters  the  Mississippi 
from  the  west,  thirty-six  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri: 
it  was,  however,  soon  ascertained  that  the  expense  of  reducing 
the  metal  and  transporting  it  to  France,  could  not  be  covered  by 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale;  and  La  Motte  Cadillac  in  consequence 
returned  to  Mobile,  less  satisfied  than  ever  with  Louisiana,  whilst 
the  reports  which  he  had  sent  to  Europe,  were  beginning  to  at 
tract  universal  attention  to  that  colony. 

La  Motte  Cadillac  had  ere  this  period  engaged  in  an  attempt 
to  establish  commercial  relations  with  the  northern  provinces  of 
Mexico,  which  produced  most  important  results.  On  arriving 
in  Louisiana,  he  found  the  letter  which  had  been,  as  already 
mentioned,  addressed  to  his  predecessor,  by  Father  Hidalgo,*  a 

*"This  man,"  writes  Stoddart,  in  his  "History  of  Louisiana,"  page  32,  "was 
an  artful,  cunning  priest,  extremely  bold  and  daring  in  his  actions.  He  was  at 
the  head  of  the  missions  in  Texas,  and  makes  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  history 
of  that  country.  He  published  an  account  of  the  most  material  transactions  of 
his  life,  which  was  long  and  active;  and  several  families  in  Nacogdoches  are  in 
possession  of  the  work.  And  finally,  he  was  canonized  for  the  services  he  had 
rendered  to  his  religion  and  government!"  The  absurdity  of  this  last  assertion 
throws  great  doubt  over  the  accuracy  of  what  precedes  it.  Canonizing  is  a  process 
rather  more  difficult  and  expensive  than  Mr.  Stoddart  seems  to  have  imagined. 


1715.]  ATTEMPT    TO    OPEN    TRADE    WITH    MEXICO.  295 

Spanish  missionary,  among  the  Cenis  Indians  on  the  Neches 
river,  representing  the  condition  of  that  country,  as  highly  favor 
able  for  settlement,  and  for  trade  with  the  northern  provinces  of 
New  Spain.  This  letter  was  written  when  commercial  inter 
course  was  allowed  between  the  French  and  the  Spanish  colonies, 
and  under  the  impression  that  it  would  be  continued:  the  gov 
ernor,  however,  notwithstanding  the  subsequent  revival  of  the 
prohibitory  regulations  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  repulse  of  Cro- 
zat's  vessels  from  Vera  Cruz,  was  induced  by  the  invitations 
of  the  missionary  to  hope  that  he  might  still  succeed  in  estab 
lishing  an  indirect  trade  with  the  provinces  above  mentioned; 
and  he  resolved  to  make  an  effort  for  the  purpose. 

There  was  at  that  time  not  a  single  post  or  establishment 
whatsoever,  of  civilized  persons,  in  the  whole  division  of  America, 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  except  in 
the  narrow  valley  of  New.  Mexico,  traversed  by  the  head  waters 
of  the  latter  stream;  or  further  south,  within  two  hundred  miles 
of  tKe  Mexican  Gulf,  between  the  Rio  Bravo  and  the  Panuco, 
or  Tampico.  Those  vast  regions  were  only  known  from  the  ac 
counts  of  the  two  or  three  Spanish  expeditions  through  them, 
already  mentioned ;  and  their  only  inhabitants,  other  than  savages, 
were  a  few  Spanish  missionaries  and  fugitives  from  Mexico, 
residing  among  the  Cenis. 

The  Spanish  establishments  nearest  to  those  of  the  French  in 
Louisiana,  were  the  Presidio  or  Fort,  and  Mission  of  San  Juan 
Bautista,  situated  at  a  short  distance  south  of  the  Rio  Bravo, 
about  nine  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth.  Further,  in  the  same 
direction,  were  Coahuila  or  Monclova  the  capital  of  the  province 
of  Coahuila,  Monterey  the  capital  of  New  Leon,  and  Saltillo, 
west  of  which  were  Parral,  Parras  and  Chihuahua,  all  of  them 
small  towns;  and  beyond  these,  and  separated  from  them  by  wide 
desert  tracts,  were  Durango,  Zacatecas,  and  San  Luis  Potosi,  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  ancient  and  populous  provinces  of  New  Spain. 

For  communication  with  these  settlements  of  the  Spaniards, 
two  modes  presented  themselves  to  the  Governor  of  Louisiana ; 
either  to  form  a  colony  or  factory  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Gulf, 
at  some  point  most  convenient  to  the  towns  of  the  interior,  or  to 
make  all  the  communications  pass  through  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Red  River,  and  thence  southward  overland:  the  territories 


296  FIRST    EXPEDITION    OF    ST.    DENIS    TO    MEXICO.       [1715. 

% 

bordering  upon  the  Gulf,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  being  regarded 
as  impassable,  from  the  number  of  the  streams  and  the  extent  of 
the  marshes,  as  well  as  from  the  savage  character  of  their  inhab 
itants.  The  former  mode  was  in  every  respect  preferable ;  but 
the  colony  of  Louisiana,  then  containing  not  more  than  five  or 
six  hundred  white  persons,  was  too  feeble  for  the  support  and 
protection  of  a  settlement  so  distant,  which  would  infallibly  be 
soon  attacked  by  the  Spaniards :  and  La  Motte  Cadillac  accord 
ingly  determined  to  have  an  experimental  expedition  made,  on 
the  other  line  of  route,  in  order  to  ascertain  how  far  commercial 
intercourse,  thus  carried  on,  might  be  practicable  and  profitable. 
The  person  selected  for  this  enterprise,  was  the  Canadian  Louis 
de  St.  Denis,  who  had,  as  already  said,  distinguished  himself  by 
his  shrewdness  and  courage,  and  had  made  several  trading  voy 
ages  up  the  Red  river;*  and  he  was  accordingly  furnished  with 
some  goods  from  the  public  store  at  Dauphine  island,  and  a  pass 
port  from  the  Governor,!  to  be  exhibited  in  case  of  need,  declar 
ing  his  object  to  be  merely  the  purchase  of'  horses  and  cattle  for 
the  colony.  He  quitted  Mobile,  on  this  expedition,  in  1714, 
with  about  thirty  Canadians,  to  whom  he  added  a  number  of  Tu 
nica  Indians,  from  the  Mississippi;  and  early  in  October,  he 
reached  the  principal  village  of  the  Natchitoches,  on  an  island 

*This  account  of  the  first  Journey  of  St.  Denis  to  Mexico,  is  derived  princi 
pally  from  the  report  of  his  examination  at  Mexico,  and  various  other  original 
and  unpublished  documents,  French  and  Spanish,  connected  with  his  case. 
Charlevoix  unaccountably  blends  the  circumstances  of  the  two  expeditions  of  St. 
Denis  into  one ;  and  he,  as  well  as  Le  Page  Dupratz,  introduce  into  their  accounts 
a  number  of  adventures,  which  are  here  omitted,  as  unimportant  or  apocryphal. 

f  The  following  translation  of  this  passport,  is  made  from  the  copy  attached  to 
the  report  of  the  examination  of  St.  Denis,  at  Mexico,  in  June,  1715: 

"  We,  Antoine  de  la  Motte  Cadillac,  Seigneur  of  Davaguet  and  Montdesert, 
Governor  of  Dauphine  Island,  Fort  Louis,  Biloxy,and  of  the  country  and  province 
of  Louisiana,  do  hereby  authorize  the  Sieur  de  St.  Denis,  and  the  twenty-four 
Canadians  of  his  party,  to  take  with  him  any  number  of  Indians,  whom  he  may 
think  necessary,  to  the  Red  River,  or  wherever  else  he  may  choose  to  go,  in 
search  of  the  Mission  of  the  Recolletj  Father  Francisco  Hidalgo,  agreeably  to 
the  letter  written  by  him,  on  the  17th  of  April,  1711,  with  the  object  of  buying 
horses  and  cattle,  for  the  colony  and  province  of  Louisiana ;  and  we  request  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  to  suffer  the  said  Sieur  de  St.  Denis  and  his  party,  to  pass 
without  impediment. — In  faith  whereof,  we  have  signed  this,  and  sealed  it  with 
the  seal  of  our  arms,  and  have  caused  it  to  be  countersigned  by  our  Secretary, 
at  Fort  Louis,  Louisiana,  this  12th  of  September,  1713. 

«  By  my  Secretary  Ou,».»  "  LA  MOTTE  CADILLAC. 


1715.]  ST.    DENIS    ARRIVES    IN    MEXICO.  297 

f 

near  the  present  town  of  that  name.  At  that  place  he  left  a 
few  men,  with  orders  to  return  to  Mobile  unless  he  should  come 
back  within  a  given  time ;  and  taking  some  Natchitoches  Indians 
as  guides,  he  proceeded  south-westward,  to  the  country  of  the 
Cenis,  where  he  learned  that  Father  Hidalgo  had  returned  to 
Mexico,  sometime  previous.  Thereupon  St.  Denis  resolved 
to  continue  his  route  to  the  settled  Spanish  provinces :  being, 
however,  fearful  of  exciting  suspicion  as  to  his  motives,  by  carry 
ing  with  him  so  many  of  his  countrymen,  he  sent  back  the  whole 
party  to  Louisiana,  with  the  exception  of  Penicaut  the  carpenter, 
Jallot  the  surgeon,  and  one  other;  and  with  these  and  a  small 
number  of  Cenis,  under  their  chief  Bernardino,  he  took  the  route 
towards  the  Presidio  of  St.  Juan  Bautista,  in  February,  1715.  On 
his  way  he  met  with  no  adventures  worthy  of  note,  except  an  at 
tack  from  some  wandering  Indians  (probably  the  Apaches)  after 
passing  the  Colorado,  or  San  Marcos  as  it  was  then  called  by  the 
Spaniards ;  and  having  repelled  this  attack,  the  travellers  reached 
the  Presidio  on  the  Rio  Bravo,  early  in  March.* 

The  commandant  of  this  place,  Don  Diego  Ramon  de  Viles- 
cas,  received  the  four  Frenchmen  with  kindness,  but  he  was 
obliged,  agreeably  to  his  instructions,  to  detain  them,  until  the 
pleasure  of  his  immediate  superior,  the  Governor  of  -Coahuila, 
could  be  learned ;  and  that  officer,  soon  after,  sent  orders  to  the 
fort,  that  St.  Denis  should  proceed  under  a  guard  to  the  city  of 
Mexico.  This  being  in  accordance  with  his  wishes,  he  took  his 
departure,  accompanied  by  Jallot  in  the  beginning  of  May,  and 
passing  through  Saltillo,  San  Luis  Potosi  and  Queretaro,  he 
reached  the  capital  of  New  Spain  in  the  middle  of  that  month. 

The  arrival  of  St.  Denis  created  much  excitement  at  Mexico. 
The  Duke  de  Linares,  then  Viceroy,  caused  him  to  be  rigorously 
interrogated  as  to  the  objects  of  his  visit;  and,  notwithstanding, 
the  readiness  displayed  by  the  Frenchman,  in  communicating  all 
that  was  asked,  and  the  favorable  views  of  the  Viceroy  towards 
his  nation,  the  case  was  submitted  to  the  Audiencia,  or  Supreme 
Court  of  Justice  and  Council  of  Government  of  the  Kingdom. 

*  At  Mexico,  St.  Denis  declared,  in  June,  1715,  that  he  had  set  out  on  his  jour 
ney  a  year  and  nine  months  previous ;  but  this  seems  to  have  been  incorrect. 
He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  considered  it  unwise  to  tell  the  truth  to  the  Span 
iards  on  any  occasion. 

38 


298  RELEASE    AND    MARRIAGE    OF    ST.    DENIS.  [1716. 

After  some  weeks,  a  report  was  made  on  the  case,  by  Espinosa 
the  Fiscal  or  Attorney  General,  setting  forth  the  magnitude  of  the 
dangers  to  which  the  Spanish  dominions  were  exposed  by  the 
establishment  of  the  French  in  Louisana ;  and  recommending 
that  St.  Denis,  with  his  companions,  should  be  escorted  back  to 
the  Red  river,  and  that  Spanish  missions,  each  supported  by  a 
small  garrison  of  soldiers,  should  be  planted  among  the  Indian 
nations,  near  that  stream,  in  order  thus  to  check  the  advance  of 
the  French  towards  the  Mexican  provinces.  These  views  were 
approved  by  the  Viceroy,  who  immediately  gave  orders  for  their 
execution ;  and  he  likewise  endeavored  to  induce  St.  Denis  to 
remain  and  settle  in  Mexico,  where  a  situation  was  offered  to 
him,  superior  to  any  which  he  might  reasonably  hope  to  attain 
in  Louisiana.  In  what  manner  these  offers  were  received  by 
the  Frenchman,  is  not  exactly  known.  The  Spaniards  insist 
that  he  accepted  them,  and  asked  only  to  be  permitted  to  return 
to  Mobile,  and  collect  his  property,  after  which  he  would  es 
tablish  himself  in  the  position  assigned  to  him ;  but  it  is  more 
probable,  that  he  only  availed  himself  of  the  confidence  reposed  in 
him  by  the  Viceroy,  to  obtain  information  and  privileges,  which 
he  might  turn  to  advantage  as  a  French  subject.  He  howrever 
certainly  agreed  to  accompany  the  Spanish  party  which  was  to  be 
despatched  to  form  missions  in  the  Red  river  countries,  and  to 
aid  them  by  his  advice  and  his  mediation  with  the  Indians  ;  and 
the  command  of  this  party  was,  through  his  influence,  entrusted 
to  Ensign  Domingo  Ramon,  the  son  of  the  Commandant  of  the 
Presidio  of  San  Juan  :  St.  Denis  himself  being  appointed  chief 
guide  and  conductor  of  the  baggage  and  supplies,  for  which  he 
was  to  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

St.  Denis  quitted  Mexico  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  and  in 
February,  1716,  he  reached  the  Presidio  of  San  Juan,  where  he 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Donna  Maria  de  Vilescas,  the  Com 
mandant's  neice,  whose  affections  he  had  gained  during  his  stay  at 
that  place.  The  soldiers,  priests  and  other  persons  for  the  contem 
plated  establishments  in  the  north,  were  in  the  meantime  collected 
at  the  fort,  from  which  they  set  out  on  the  20th  of  March.  The 
party  consisted  of  twenty-four  soldiers,  nine  friars,  seven  women 
and  thirty-five  other  persons,  including  the  four  Frenchmen,  but 
not  the  newly  married  lady,  who,  for  some  reason  unexplained, 


1716.]  SPANISH    EXPEDITION    TO    TEXAS.  299 

remained  at  the  fort ;  and  they  carried  with  them  more  than  five 
hundred  head  of  horses,  mules  and  cattle.*  Their  progress  was, 
therefore,  necessarily  slow.  On  the  2d  of  May,  they  forded  the 
Nueces,  the  bed  of  which  was  found  nearly  dry;  and  having 
in  the  same  way  passed  the  Medina,  the  northern  boundary  of 
Coahuila  on  the  14th,  they  encamped  for  a  few  days  in  the 
beautiful  valley  of  San  Antonio,  near  that  river  on  the  north, 
which  had  been  discovered,  as  already  related,  by  Teran,  in  1691. 
Continuing  their  march,  they  crossed  in  succession,  the  Gauda- 
lupe,  the  San  Marcos  now  the  Colorado,  the  Colorado  now  the 
Brazos,  and  the  Trinity,  from  which  latter  river,  St.  Denis,  went 
in  advance,  to  communicate  with  the  Cenis,  and  secure  their 
friendship  for  the  Spaniards.  In  this,  the  Frenchman  was  en 
tirely  successful ;  and  on  the  27th  of  June,  he  returned  to  the 
party,  accompanied  by  the  chief  Bernardino  and  a  number  of  his 
followers,  with  whom  Ramon  smoked  the  calumet  of  peace,  and 
concluded  a  solemn  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce.  The  places 
which  had  been  occupied  by  the  Spanish  missions  and  churches, 
in  1692-3,  were  discovered,  and  some  of  them  were  again  con 
secrated  to  the  same  purposes  ;  the  principal  establishment  being 
that  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe,  so  named  in  honor  of  the  pa 
troness  of  their  expedition,  and  situated  near  the  spot  now  occupied 
by  the  town  of  Nacogdoches.  The  Spaniards  then  crossed  the 
river  of  the  Adayes,  since  called  the  Sabine,  and  in  like  manner 
communicated  and  entered  into  agreements  with  the  Adayes  In 
dians,  among  whom  they  also  founded  missions;  and  St.  Denis 
there  taking  leave  of  them,  hastened  by  way  of  the  Natchitoches 
town,  the  Red  river  and  the  Mississippi,  to  Mobile,  where  he  ar 
rived  on  the  25th  of  August,  1716,  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
two  years. 

La  Motte  Cadillac  was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  result  of 
this  expedition,  which  in  place  of  facilitating  the  advance  of  the 
French  towards  Mexico,  had  brought  the  Spaniards  on  the  borders 
of  Louisiana  ;  and  he  immediately  despatched  M.  Blondel,  with  a 

*The  particulars  of  this  expedition  are  related  with  minuteness,  in  the  Jour 
nal  of  Domingo  Ramon,  and  the  report  of  the  missionaries ;  of  which  docu 
ments,  the  latter  affords  some  curious  observations,  as  to  the  religious  ideas  of 
the  Indians,  and  the  possibility  of  making  ( con  verts)  in  that  quarter,  singularly 
coinciding  with  those  of  Hennepin,  on  the  same  subject. 


300  GENERAL    EXCITEMENT    AMONG    INDIANS.  [1715. 

few  soldiers,  to  occupy  the  Natchitoches  town,  on  the  Red  river,  as 
a  check  upon  the  other  party.  The  hope  of  establishing  commer 
cial  relations  with  northern  Mexico  was,  however,  not  aban 
doned;  St.  Denis  was  soon  ready  to  return  to  the  Rio  Grande,, 
and  four  traders  of  Mobile  offered  to  accompany  him,  if  goods  to 
the  amount  of  sixty  thousand  livres  could  be  obtained  from  the 
public  stores  for  the  adventure.  This  was  arranged;  and  St. 
Denis  with  the  other  traders  Messrs.  Lafreniere,  Delery  and  Beau- 
lieu,  brothers,  and  M.  Graveline,  all  Canadians,  took  their  de 
parture  from  Mobile,  in  October,  1716. 

During  the  absence  of  St.  Denis  on  his  first  expedition  to 
Mexico,  some  important  events  had  occurred  in  Louisiana.  In  the 
beginning  of  1715  considerable  excitement  was  manifested  among 
the  Indian  nations  in  those  parts  of  America.  The  Chickasas 
murdered,  several  French  officers  and  traders,  among  whom  was 
M.  de  St.  Helene  the  nephew  of  Bienville ;  and  they  attacked  the 
French  boats  passing  on  the  Mississippi,  near  the  line  of  heights, 
then  called  the  Ecores  de  Prudhomme,  now  the  Chickasa  Bluffs 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  A  party  of  Cherokees  at  the  same  time 
crossed  the  Ohio,  and  surprised  M.  de  Ramezay  and  several 
other  Frenchmen  on  the  Wabash,  who  were  put  to  death ;  and 
the  Illinois  Indians  again  destroyed  the  missions  and  settlements 
in  their  country,  from  which  the  people  were  driven,  as  they  had 
been  ten  years  before,  to  Canada  or  Louisiana.  The  Choctas, 
moreover,  begun  first  to  show  a  hostile  disposition  towards 
the  French,  whose  traders  were  expelled  from  all  the  northern 
towns  of  that  nation ;  and  the  two  tribes  of  the  Conchatta  and 
Chickasahay,  which  refused  to  take  part  against  their  former 
friends,  were  forced  to  quit  their  grounds  on  the  Pearl  river,  and 
fly  for  refuge  to  the  vicinity  of  Mobile. 

All  these  hostile  movements  among  the  Indians  were,  as  usual, 
attributed  to  the  English,  whose  traders  were  then  in  large  num 
bers  in  those  countries ;  and  the  suspicion  was  no  doubt  well 
founded,  as  there  is  abundant  evidence,  that  neither  of  the  three 
European  nations,  possessing  territories  in  North  America,  scru 
pled  to  excite  the  savages  against  its  rivals,  whensoever  opportu 
nities  were  presented.  Bienville,  acting  upon  this  supposition, 
hastened  with  a  few  men,  up  the  Mobile  river,  where  he  seized 
some  of  the  English  and  destroyed  their  stores ;  and  hav- 


1715.]       THE    YAMASSEES    EXPELLED    FROM    CAROLINA. 


301 


ing  then  assembled  a  number  of  chiefs  of  the  Chocta  towns,  he 
required  them  immediately  to  banish  the  other  interlopers,  and 
to  bring  him  the  head  of  Watacta-chitto,  the  brother  of  their 
principal  chief,  who  had  been  the  leader  of  the  opposition  to  the 
French.  The  Indians  demurred  at  this  imperious  demand,  but 
they  soon  obeyed :  Watacta-chitto  was  killed  by  his  brother,  and 
his  head  was  sent  to  Mobile;  the  English  traders  were  expelled; 
the  Conchatta  and  Chickasahay  tribes  were  reinstated  in  their 
country  and  indemnified  for  their  losses,  and  the  whole  Chocta 
nation  returned  to  its  former  state  of  amity  with  the  French. 

The  English  in  Carolina  were,  however,  during  the  same  sum 
mer,  themselves  visited  by  an  infliction  of  a  similar  character, 
which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  disastrous  ever  experienced 
by  that  nation  in  the  New  World.  The  Yamassees,  as  already 
mentioned,  had  remained  in  the  lower  part* of  South  Carolina, 
and  on  the  coasts  and  islands  farther  south,  in  friendship  with  the 
English,  and  under  their  protection,  ever  since  the  war  with  the 
Spaniards  in  1686.  In  the  middle  of  April,  1715,  these  savages 
unexpectedly  fell  upon  the  settlements  in  Port  Royal  and  St. 
Helena  islands,  where  they  killed  a  large  number  of  the  inhabi 
tants,  the  remainder  escaping  in  vessels  to  Charleston ;  and  then 
emboldened  by  this  success,  they  marched  towards  that  city, 
which  they  seemed  determined  to  attack.  The  Governor  Charles 
Craven,  who  had  so  effectually  terminated  the  war  in  North  Caro 
lina  in  1711,  in  the  meantime  assembled  the  militia,  and  met  the 
Yamassees  near  the  Salkehatchee  or  Saltcatchers  river,  one  of 
the  head  waters  of  the  Combahee,  where  he  defeated  them  with 
great  slaughter ;  and  pursuing  his  victory,  he  drove  the  fugitives 
across  the  Savannah  and  the  Alatamaha,  into  Florida,  and  estab 
lished  forts  on  those  rivers,  to  prevent  future  incursions. 

Cotemporary  with  the  Yamassee  war  in  Carolina,  were  the 
first  difficulties  experienced  by  the  French  from  the  Natches.  As 
much  will  be  said  of  these  Indians  in  the  following  pages,  it  will 
be  convenient  here  to  present  a  concise  account  of  them. 

The  Natches  or  Na-chees  were  a  small  nation,  numbering  at  that 
time,  not  more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  persons,  who  in 
habited  a  tract  of  country  about  twenty  miles  in  length,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  four  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth,  and 
nearly  midway  between  the  entrances  of  the  Big  Black  and  Ho- 


302 


THE    NATCHES    COUNTRY. 


[1715. 


mochitto  rivers.  They  supported  themselves  principally  by 
agriculture,  for  which  strong  inducements  were  offered  by  the 
fertility  of  the  country,  and  its  elevation  above  the  river,  se 
curing  it  against  the  ravages  of  floods  ;  and  being  surrounded 
by  wandering  tribes,  they  were  necessarily  led  to  form  their 
habitations  and  fields  near  each  other  for  mutual  defence. 
The  greater  part  of  the  nation  was  indeed  collected  in  six  or 
seven  villages,  situated  on  or  near  the  banks  of  a  small  stream, 
now  called  St.  Catherine's  Creek,  which  runs  for  some  dis 
tance  from  north  to  south,  within  three  or  four  miles  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  empties  into  that  river  twelve  miles  below  the 
present  city  of  Natchez. 


THE 
NATCHES  COUNTRY. 


These  villages,  each  occupied  by  a  tribe  or  clan,  bore  distinct 
names,  three  of  which  signified  respectively, — the  Apple  ;  the 
White  Earth  ;  and  the  Meal ; — the  others  were  called  the  Jerize- 
nac,  the  Gris  and  the  Tioux,  whose  meanings,  if  they  had  any, 
are  unknown.  The  French  accounts  speak  frequently  of  a  great 
or  principal  town,  where  the  head  of  the  nation  resided ;  but  this ' 
was  probably  one  of  the  three  first  named  above.  These  villages 


1715.]  LANGUAGE    OF    THE    NATCHES.  303 

were  merely  groups  of  small  cabins,  made  of  stakes  and  earth, 
'  thatched  with  leaves  and  blades  of  Indian  corn;  the  cabins  of  the 
chiefs  were  lined  with  mats,  and  furnished  with  rude  seats  and 
couches  of  wood,  covered  with  mats  or  skins.  The  cultivation 
of  the  earth,  was  performed  by  the  people  of  each  village  in 
common,  under  the  direction  of  their  chiefs,  who  distributed  the 
produce;  the  whole  labor  consisted  in  planting  corn,  beans  and 
tobacco,  removing  weeds,  and  gathering  the  harvest,  which  was 
usually  plentiful,  on  account  of  the  great  fertility  of  the  soil.  The 
hunting  was  performed  at  stated  seasons,  by  the  people  of  each 
village  in  a  particular  section  of  the  country,  under  the  direction 
of  the  respective  chiefs,  who,  in  like  manner,  divided  the  fruits 
of  the  chase  among  the  inhabitants. 

In  personal  appearance  and  disposition,  no  difference  was  re 
marked  between  the  Natches  and  the  other  Indians  of  that  part  of 
America.  Of  their  language,  only  a  few  words  have  been  pre 
served,  some  of  which  were  nearly  identical  with  those  employed 
to  express  the  same  meaning,  by  the  Choctas  or  Chickasas  ;*  two 
of  the  tribes,  however,  the  Gris  and  Tioux,  spoke  languages  en 
tirely  distinct  from  each  other,  and  from  the  rest  of  the  nation,  so 
that  they  were  considered,  in  some  of  the  French  accounts,  as 
allies,  rather  than  as  members  of  the  confederacy.  The  small 
remnant  of  the  Natches,  now  residing  as  a  tribe  of  the  Musco- 
ghees,  on  the  upper  Arkansas,  are  entirely  unintelligible  by  any 
of  the  other  Indians,  from  the  Mississippi  or  Alabama;  but  they 
may  be  the  descendants  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  tribes 
above  named. 

As  the  natural  consequence  of  their  less  erratic  habits,  and 
mode  of  life,  the  Natches  were  raised  above  the  level  of  bar 
barism  of  the  other  nations  of  that  division  of  America,  though 
by  no  means  so  much,  as  some  poetic  writers  have  represented. 
This  advancement  was,  however,  accompanied  by  a  correspond 
ing  increase  of  depravity.  No  Indians  were  more  treacherous 

*  Mr.  Gallatin  in  the  comparative  vocabulary  of  fifty-three  Indian  nations,  at 
tached  to  his  admirable  "  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  tribes,"  published  in  the  second 
volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Archoeological  Society  of  Cambridge,  gives 
a  vocabulary  of  the  Natches  language,  obtained  by  him  from  Istahlakteh,  a 
chief  of  the  remaining  tribe  of  that  nation,  then  incorporated  with  the  Creeks, 
who  visited  Washington  in  1826.  Very  few  of  the  words  bear  the  slightest  re 
semblance  to  those  of  any  other  Indian  nation. 


304  GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    NATCHES.  [1715. 

than  the  Natches  ;  among  no  other  people,  did  greater  licentious 
ness  prevail  in  the  intercourse  between  the  sexes,  or  was  human 
life  sacrificed  with  less  compunction  ;  prostitution  was  enjoined 
by  custom  upon  all  women,  and  every  civil  or  religious  cere 
mony,  was  attended  by  the  murder  of  individuals  in  cold  blood. 

The  government  of  the  Natches  was  a  hereditary  monarchy, 
limited  by  an  aristocracy.  Each  tribe  or  village  had  its  chief, 
called  a  Wa-shil  or  Sun,  who  was  absolute  within  his  dominion ; 
the  supreme  power  was  vested,  nominally,  in  a  Great  Sun,  but 
in  all  matters  of  importance  he  was  subject  to  the  control  of  the 
other  chiefs  in  council.  These  Suns  were  believed  to  be  all  de 
scended  from  a  man  and  a  woman  of  dazzling  brightness,  who 
came  among  them  directly  from  the  great  luminary;  the  line  of 
succession  being,  as  in  all  other  cases,  traced  only  through  fe 
males.  Thus,  on  the  death  of  a  Sun,  he  was  succeeded  in  his 
title  and  powers  by  the  eldest  son  of  his  nearest  female  relative; 
while  his  own  children,  fell  into  a  lower  rank,  and  their  children, 
sunk  into  the  common  herd  of  plebians,  or  Stinkards,  according 
to  the  signification  of  the  word  characterising  them.  Women  of 
high  rank  were  called  Female  Suns:  they  as  well  as  the  Suns 
could  marry  none  but  plebians,  the  offspring  in  all  cases  follow 
ing  the  lot  of  the  mother,  without  regard  to  that  of  the  father,  or 
reputed  father ;  so  that  disputes  as  to  legitimacy  of  birth  could 
rarely  occur.  The  mother  or  sister,  or  nearest  female  relative  of 
the  Great  Sun,  was  styled  Wa-shil-Tamail,  or  the  Bright  or  Sun 
Woman,  and  was  held  in  the  greatest  respect  by  the  whole  nation: 
she  could,  indeed,  by  law,  have  but  one  husband  at  a  time ;  but  she 
might  repudiate  him  at  her  pleasure,  or  have  him  put  to  death  on 
the  slightest  suspicion  of  infidelity,  and  there  was  no  limitation 
as  to  the  number  of  her  lovers.  Among  all  other  persons,  po 
lygamy  was  allowed  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  forms  of  marriage 
beimg  most  simple.  Chastity  was,  as  already  said,  held  in  no 
repute,  and  jealousy  was  almost  unknown. 

The  religion  of  the  Natches,  was  like  that  of  other  barbarous 
nations,  founded  on  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  Great  and 
Good  Spirit,  which  directed  all  things  for  the  advantage  of  man, 
while  an  inferior  Evil  Spirit  was  ever  laboring  for  his  injury. 
They  worshipped  the  Sun  as  the  representative  or  the  abode 
of  the  Good  Spirit;  and  the  chief  village  contained  a  large  cabin, 


1715.]  RELIGION    OF    THE    NATCHES.  305 

or  temple  as  it  was  called  by  the  French,  in  which  a  fire  was 
kept  constantly  burning',  and  the  remains  of  deceased  chiefs 
were  deposited  :*  they  however,  addressed  their  prayers  only  to 
the  Evil  Genius,  considering  it  superfluous  to  ask  any  thing  of 
the  Great  Spirit,  who  was  always  intent  on  their  welfare.  They 
also  had  some  vague  ideas  of  a  future  state,  at  least '  for  their 
chiefs,  who  were  supposed  to  be  transported  after  death  to  a  de 
lightful  country,  abounding  in  game  and  fish  :  but  as,  according 
to  their  notions,  neither  wives  nor  attendants  were  supplied  in 
this  new  existence,  custom  required  that  on  the  death  of  each 
chief,  all  his  dependants  should  be  immediately  sent  to  continue 

*The  chief  temple  of  the  Natches,  is  thus  described  by  the  Jesuit  in  a  letter 
addressed  by  him  from  New  Orleans  in  1730,  and  published  among  the  Lettres 
Edifiantes : 

"  The  religion  of  this  people  [the  Natches]  in  certain  points  strongly  resembles 
that  of  the  ancient  Romans.  They  have  a  temple  filled  with  idols,  representing 
men  and  animals,  for  which  they  have  the  most  profound  veneration.  Their 
temple  resembles  an  oven  in  form ;  and  is  about  one  hundred  feet  in  circumfer 
ence  ;  it  is  entered  by  a  small  door,  four  feet  high,  and  has  no  windows.  The 
roof  is  covered  with  three  layers  of  mats,  to  keep  out  the  rain ;  and  within  and 
on  the  top,  are  three  figures  of  eagles  in  wood,  painted  red,  yellow  and  black. 
Before  the  door  is  a  sort  of  shed,  and  a  lodge  in  which  the  keeper  of  the  temple 
resides:  the  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  palisade,  on  which  are  exposed  the  heads 
of  enemies,  slain  by  their  chiefs  in  war.  Within  the  temple,  are  several  benches, 
on  which  are  placed  oval  baskets,  made  of  canes,  containing  the  bones  of  chiefs; 
and  by  them  are  placed  those  of  the  victims,  who  gave  themselves  up  to  be  stran 
gled,  in  order  to  follow  their  masters  to  the  other  world.  On  another  bench,  are 
several  baskets  neatly  painted,  containing  the  idols,  which  are  figures  of  men  and 
women  of  stone,  or  baked  clay,  heads  and  tails  of  snakes  of  extraordinary  size, 
stuffed  owls,  bits  of  crystal,  and  jaw-bones  of  large  fishes.  There  was  also  in 
1699,  a  bottle  and  a  plate  of  glass,  which  were  preserved  as  treasures  of  much 
value. 

"  Care  is  taken  to  keep  up  a  perpetual  fire  in  this  temple,  and  to  prevent  it 
from  blazing,  for  \fchich  purpose,  only  dry  wood  of  oak  or  walnut  is  used  ;  and 
the  old  men,  are  obliged  each  in  turn,  to  bring  a  large  log  to  the  enclosure.  The 
number  of  keepers  or  guardians  of  the  temple  is  fixed,  each  serving  for  one  quar 
ter  of  a  year.  The  guardian  lives  in  the  lodge  or  porch,  like  a  sentinel,  and  there 
watches  the  fire,  to  see  that  it  does  not  go  out.  He  feeds  it  with  two  or  three 
large  logs,  which  burn  only  at  the  ends,  and  are  never  placed  one  on  another,  in 
order  that  they  may  not  blaze." 

Charlevoix  who  visited  Natches  in  1721,  found  the  temple  nearly  empty,  very 
filthy,  and  filled  with  smoke  from  the  sacred  fire,  which  was  almost  extinguished, 
the  guardian  having  gone  off  to  a  festival :  the  custom  of  depositing  the  dead 
bodies  of  chiefs  in  the  interior,  had  been  abandoned;  as  to  the  heads  of  enemies 
placed  on  the  spikes  of  the  surrounding  palisade,  Charlevoix  treats  that  as  a 
mere  embellishment. 

39 


306  NATCHES    COMPARED    WITH    OTHER    INDIANS.  [1715. 

their  services  to  him ;  so  that  the  funeral  of  each  distinguished  per 
son  was  solemnised  by  the  murder  of  a  number  of  men,  women  and 
children,  proportioned  to  the  state  which  he  had  maintained  on 
earth.  Human  sacrifices  were  also  practised  on  many  other  occa 
sions,  in  propitiation  of  the  Evil  Spirit;  as  during  long  droughts, 
and  violent  storms,  or  on  the  departure  of  a  great  chief  for  war. 
Many  of  the  victims  no  doubt  offered  their  necks  voluntarily  to 
the  fatal  cord  by  which  they  were  strangled,  and  others  resigned 
themselves  with  resolution,  to  the  fate  which  they  must  have  long 
anticipated  ;  the  greater  number  were,  however,  seized  and  con 
fined  until  the  moment  of  the  sacrifice,  shortly  before  which  they 
were  rendered  insensible,  by  pills  of  tobacco  forced  upon  them. 

The  Natches  were,  in  general,  disinclined  to  war,  though  they 
exhibited  much  energy  and  bravery  in  their  expeditions  for  that 
purpose,  and  a  corresponding  degree  of  ferocity  towards  their 
captives.  The  direction  of  the  hostile  operations  was  committed 
to  the  great  war  chief,  who  was  generally  the  active  head  of  the 
government,  though  inferior  in  dignity  to  the  Great  Sun;  and  the 
commencement  and  termination  of  every  expedition  were  solem 
nised  by  ceremonies  in  the  temple.  When  the  Great  Sun  him 
self  went  to  war,  much  care  was  taken  to  shield  him  from  all 
danger;  as  in  the  case  of  his  being  wounded,  killed  or  made 
prisoner,  the  chiefs  of  the  army  were  liable  to  be  all  put  to 
death. 

On  all  these  points  of  government,  religion  and  social  life, 
many  other  aboriginal  nations  of  America  held  nearly  the  same 
opinions,  and  observed  nearly  the  same  rules  and  customs.  The 
temple  with  its  perpetual  fire,  and  the  remains  of  chiefs  deposit 
ed  in  it — the  adoration  of  the  Sun — the  belief  in  a  Good  and 
an  Evil  Spirit,  and  in  a  future  state  of  happiness  for  good  and 
great  men — the  monarchy  limited  by  an  aristocracy — and  the  suc 
cession  through  females — were  common  to  almost  all  the  aboriginal 
nations  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  which  supported  themselves 
principally  by  agriculture ;  though  the  Natches  seem  to  have  ad 
hered  to  them  more  strongly  arid  for  a  greater  length  of  time  after 
the  establishment  of  Europeans  in  their  vicinity,  than  any  othei 
people,  in  that  portion  of  the  New  World.  They  appear,  more 
over,  to  have  been  the  only  nation,  except  the  Taensas,  in  the  val 
ley  of  the  Mississippi,  among  whom  human  sacrifices  were  allowed; 


1715.]    FIRST  ATTACK  OF  THE   NATCHES   ON  THE   FRENCH.        307 

though  such  horrible  practices  certainly  prevailed  in  Virginia,* 
and,  perhaps,  in  many  other  countries  east  of  the  great  river,  at 
the  time  of  their  discovery.  It  is  still  usual  among  the  Indians 
of  the  upper  Missouri  to  kill  the  horse  or  dog  of  a  chief  at  his 
funeral,  with  the  same  idea  of  enabling  him  to  prosecute  his 
hunting  in  the  second  world. 

O 

Upon  the  whole  it  seems  most  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the 
Natches  were  Indians  of  the  same  race  with  those  by  whom  they 
were  surrounded;!  though  they  may,  like  the  Uchee  tribe  among 
the  Muscoghees,  have  emigrated  from  some  distant  point,  to  that 
in  which  they  were  found  by  Europeans.  The  fanciful  theories  of 
some  poetic  travellers  and  historians,  that  they  may  have  descend 
ed  from  a  colony  of  Aztecs,  or  a  colony  of  Carthaginians,  appear 
to  have  had  no  other  foundation,  than  in  the  simple  facts  of  their 
human  sacrifices,  and  their  adoration  of  the  Sun,  neither  of  which 
customs  was  peculiar  to  them. 

Until  1715,  the  Natches  always  maintained  the  most  friendly 
relations  with  the  French;  and  in  the  preceding  year  a  plantation 
had  been  established  near  their  towns,  by  M.  La  Loire  des  Ursins, 
which  promised  great  advantages  from  the  cultivation  of  tobacco. 

*See  the  account  given  by  Captain  John  Smith,  in  his  History  of  Virginia, 
page  36,  of  the  annual  sacrifice  of  fifteen  boys,  in  honor  of  the  Okee  or  Evil 
Spirit,  on  the  north  side  of  James  river,  a  little  above  the  Chickahominy. 

fCharlevoix,  in  the  31st  letter  of  the  journal  of  his  travels,  says: 

"  As  regards  the  nation  of  the  Natches  in  general,  nothing  in  their  personal 
appearance  distinguishes  them  from  the  other  savages  of  Canada  and  Louisiana. 
They  rarely  go  to  war,  and  do  not  place  their  glory  in  the  destruction  of  men. 
What  particularly  distinguishes  them,  is  the  very  despotic  form  of  their  govern 
ment,  the  entire  dependence  amounting  to  slavery  of  its  subjects,  the  extreme 
pride  and  haughtiness  of  the  chiefs,  and  the  generally  pacific  disposition,  in  which, 
however,  some  change  has  appeared  of  late  years.  The  Hurons  also  believe 
their  hereditary  chiefs  to  be  the  issue  of  the  Sun ;  but  no  one  amongst  them  would 
be  the  servant  of  one  of  those  chiefs,  or  would  follow  him  into  the  other  world, 
to  have  the  honor  of  serving  him  there,  as  often  happens  among  the  Natches. 
The  greater  number  of  the  natives  of  Louisiana  had  their  temples,  as  well  as 
the  Natches,  and  in  all  of  them  a  fire  was  kept  perpetually  burning.  It  seems, 
indeed,  that  the  Mobilians  had  a  sort  of  supremacy  in  religious  matters  over  all 
the  other  nations  ;  for  when  in  any  other  the  sacred  fire  became  extinguished,  it 
could  only  be  lighted  again,  from  that  burning  in  their  temple.  The  temple  of 
the  Natches  is,  however,  at  present,  (1721,)  the  only  one  which  subsists,  and  it 
is  regarded  with  great  veneration  by  all  surrounding  nations." 

What  is  here  said  of  the  Mohilians,  most  probably  refers  to  the  Taensas,  who 
removed  to  the  vicinity  i>f  Mobile  Bay  in  1705. 


308  BIENVILLE    MARCHES    AGAINST    THE    NATCHES.      [1716. 

Whether  this  establishment  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  Indians, 
or  they  were  influenced  by  the  Chickasas  or  by  the  English,  or 
they  felt  themselves  insulted  by  the  impolitic  refusal  of  La  Motte 
Cadillac  to  smoke  the  calumet  with  their  Great  Sun,  they  unex 
pectedly,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  broke  out  in  hostilities 
against  the  French,  whom  they  expelled  from  their  country;  and 
they  soon  after  attacked  several  boats  descending-the  Mississippi, 
the  people  in  which  were  murdered  or  wounded  and  beaten,  while 
the  cargoes  were  seized  and  carried  into  the  interior. 

Accounts  of  these  last  mentioned  disasters  on  the  Mississippi 
were  brought  to  Mobile  in  January,  1716,  by  Father  Davion,  the 
missionary  among  the  Tunica  Indians;  and  La  Motte  Cadillac 
immediately  ordered  Bienville,  to  go  with  thirty-four  men  to 
Natchez,  where  he  was  to  erect  a  fort,  and  exact  reparation  for 
the  outrages.  Bienville  remonstrated  against  this  order  on  the 
grounds  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  force,  allowed  for  its  execution: 
but  the  governor  insisted,  notwithstanding,  that  news  had  been 
received  through  M.  La  Loire  des  Ursins  of  the  murder  of  three 
other  Frenchmen,  who  were  descending  the  Mississippi,  and  of 
farther  disorders  committed  by  the  Indians ;  and  the  Commandant 
was  obliged  to  cease  his  opposition.  He  accordingly  departed 
with  his  little  army  for  the  Mississippi,  where  he  was  fortunately 
joined  by  fifteen  sailors  and  by  ten  of  Mr.  Crozat's  boats,  on  their 
way  up  the  river  with  goods ;  and  on  the  23d  of  April  the  whole 
party  reached  the  Tunica  Cliff,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  about 
thirty  miles  by  land  below  Natchez.  There  a  camp  was  formed, 
near  Father  Day  ion's  hermitage,  surrounded  by  an  entrenchment, 
sufficiently  strong  to  resist  attack  from  savages;  and  though  ac 
counts  had  arrived  of  additional  outrages  of  the  Natches  upon  the 
French,  Bienville  dissembling  his  intentions,  merely  sent  a  friendly 
message  to  the  head  of  that  nation,  expressing  the  governor's 
desire  to  establish  a  trading  post  near  his  town.* 

Four  days  after  the  despatch  of  this  message,  three  Natches 
Indians  appeared  at  the  camp  to  present  the  calumet  of  peace;  but 

*  A  particular  account  of  this  expedition,  though  somewhat  contradictory  in 
its  details,  may  be  found  in  the  report  of  M.  de  Richebourg,  which  is  given  en 
tire  in  the  "Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,"by  Gayarre",  vol.  1,  pages  132  to  147.  Ac 
counts  are  also  presented  by  Charlevoix,  La  Harpe,  Dumont,  Le  Page  Dupratz, 
and  other  writers,  which  have  been  examined  and  compared. 


1716.]       BIENVILLE    NEGOTIATES    WITH    THE    NATCHKS.  309 

Bienville  learning  that  they  were  persons  of  inferior  rank,  refused 
to  receive  them,  or  to  treat  with  any  other  than  their  highest  digni 
taries.  They  accordingly  returned,  and  on  the  7th  of  May,  several 
canoes  arrived,  bringing  the  Great  Sun  and  his  brothers  Olabalke- 
biche  or  the  Stung  Serpent,  and  the  Little  Sun,  with  their  half 
brother  the  Bearded  Sun,  and  eight  other  chiefs  and  their  attend 
ants,  who  on  landing  inarched  towards  the  camp  with  great 
solemnity,  singing  a  song  of  peace.  Bienville  received  the 
principal  chiefs  in  his  tent;  but  when  they  proffered  the  calu 
met,  he  rudely  cast  it  aside,  and  charging  them  with  their  out 
rages  upon  his  countrymen,  he  demanded  immediate  and  ample 
satisfaction.  The  stupefied  Indians  remained  silent;  but  they 
were  soon  aroused  by  the  entrance  of  the  French  soldiers,  who 
loaded  them  with  heavy  chains,  and  carried  them  off  to  a  prison, 
prepared  for  them.  There  they  remained  for  some  hours  in  sul 
len  silence ;  but  there  were  warriors  among  them,  who  would  not 
disgrace  their  nation,  by  showing  signs  of  fear,  and  the  death 
song  of  manly  resignation  was  soon  heard  from  their  place  of 
confinement. 

Bienville  had,  in  the  meantime,  obtained  exact  accounts  of  all 
the  circumstances  connected  with  the  late  outrages,  and  knew 
who  were  the  principal  authors  of  them.  He,  therefore,  ordered 
the  Great  Sun,  the  Little  Sun  and  the  Stung  Serpent,  to  be 
brought  to  his  tent  at  midnight ;  and  in  a  tone  calculated  to  reas 
sure  them,  he  declared  that  he  knew  their  innocence  of  all  offence 
towards  the  French,  and  offered  to  restore  them  to  liberty,  on  con 
dition  that  the  heads  of  the  guilty  persons  should  be  delivered  to 
him.  In  order  to  enforce  his  demand,  he  reminded  them  of  many 
past  occurrences,  shewing  the  power  of  his  nation;  and  conjured 
them  to  save  their  country  from  the  fate  which  would  certainly 
overwhelm  it,  unless  the  satisfaction  required  by  him  should  be 
immediately  granted.  His  representations  produced  the  desired 
effect ;  and  on  the  following  day,  the  Little  Sun  proceeded  to 
the  towns,  in  order  to  submit  the  requisitions  of  the  terrible  com 
mandant,  to  the  council  of  chiefs. 

On  the  14th,  the  Little  Sun  returned  to  the  French  camp  bring 
ing  three  heads,  which  were  laid  at  the  feet  of  Bienville,  with  the 
assurance  that  they  were  those  of  the  guilty  chiefs.  The  Com 
mandant,  however,  being  well  informed  of  all  that  had  taken 


310  COMPLETE    SUCCESS    OF    BIENVILLE.  [1716. 

place  among  the  Natches,  pointed  to  one  of  the  heads,  which  he 
knew  to  be  that  of  an  innocent  person,  and  sternly  rebuking  the 
Sun  for  the  attempted  deception,  ordered  him  again  to  be  placed 
with  the  others  in  irons.  Meanwhile  a  fever  had  broken  out  in 
the  camp,  and  Bienville  being,  moreover,  aware  that  the  Natches 
and  several  other  nations  in  their  vicinity  were  actively  preparing 
for  war,  found  all  his  address  required  to  terminate  the  business 
satisfactorily.  He  accordingly  removed  the  chains  from  his 
principal  captives,  and  allowed  the  Great  Sun  and  two  other 
chiefs  to  go  to  their  town,  in  order  that  they  might  employ  their 
influence  to  obtain  the  heads  of  the  remaining  enemies  of  France ; 
especially  that  of  the  high  and  powerful  chief  called  the  White 
Earth,  who  was  known  to  have  himself  committed  several  of 
the  outrages. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Great  Sun,  Bienville  directed  his 
powers  of  persuasion,  particularly  to  the  Stung  Serpent,  who  was 
considered  the  wisest  and  bravest  of  the  Natches;  and  he  at 
length  drew  from  that  chief,  the  confession,  which  seems  to  ha\  e 
been  anticipated  by  the  Frenchman,  that  among  the  most  active 
promoters  of  the  robberies  and  murders,  were  his  own  half-brother 
the  Bearded  Sun,  and  two  others  of  the  prisoners  in  the  camp. 
The  Commandant  on  learning  this,  ceased  to  insist  on  the  imme 
diate  delivery  of  the  Sun  of  White  Earth,  who  had  fled  into 
the  interior;  and  he  offered  to  liberate  all  the  captives  except 
the  three  who  had  been  declared  guilty,  on  condition  that  the 
property  taken  from  the  French  should  be  restored,  that  a  fort 
should  be  erected  at  Natches  at  a  place  to  be  chosen  by  him,  on 
which  a  certain  number  of  Indians  should  be  employed,  and  that 
every  means  should  be  used  to  put  to  death  the  fugitive  chief 
above  named,  and  to  deliver  his  head  to  the  person  left  in  com 
mand  of  the  fort.  These  offers  were  gladly  accepted  by  the 
Natches,  and  a  spot  was  chosen  near  their  towns,  where  several 
hundred  Indians  were  compelled  to  cut  and  drag  the  logs,  and  to 
dig  the  ditches  for  the  fort  to  be  established  on  it.  By  the  micldle 
of  August,  the  work  was  completed,  and  occupied  by  a  small  gar 
rison  under  M.  de  Paillou  ;  and  it  received  the  name  of  Fort 
Rosalie,  in  fulfilment  of  the  original  intention  of  Iberville. 

It  appears  to  have  been  understood,  that  the  Bearded  Sun,  if 
not  the  two  other  chiefs,  who  had  aided  him  in  the  outrages  on 


1716.]  INHUMAN    CONDUCT    OF    BIENVILLE.  311 

the  French,  should  be  spared,  on  the  grounds  that  they  had  vol 
untarily  come  to  the  camp  on  the  faith  of  the  invitation  of  the 
Commandant  ;*  and  it  is  thus  expressly  stated  in  one  of  the  ac 
counts  of  the  transactions.  In  the  middle  of  June,  however,  the 
two  chiefs  last  mentioned  were  shot,  by  order  of  Bienville:  several 
retainers  of  the  Bearded  Sun,  thereupon  came  forward  voluntarily, 
to  offer  themselves  as  hostages  or  as  victims,  to  ensure  the  safety 
of  their  lord ;  but  the  inexorable  Commandant  refused  to  listen 
to  their  prayers,  and  on  the  following  day  the  guilty  Sun  was  sent 
down  the  Mississippi  to  some  distance,  where  he  underwent  the 
same  fate.  The  Stung  Serpent  and  the  remainder  of  the  captives 
were  liberated  after  the  completion  of  the  fort,  and  Bienville  then 
returned  to  Mobile,  well  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  he 
had  conducted  the  expedition. 

Bienville's  conduct  in  these  affairs  would  have  done  honor  to 
any  savage  chief.  According  to  the  relation  of  the  circumstances 
presented  by  the  French,  his  course  had  been  marked  by  extreme 
duplicity  and  inhumanity,  and  was  well  calculated  to  impress  the 
Indians,  with  the  utmost  dread  of  that  nation,  as  well  as  the 
deepest  animosity  towards  them.  La  Motte  Cadillac  did  not 
lose  the  opportunity  to  mark  his  detestation  of  the  whole  pro 
ceeding,  which  he  represented  as  a  most  execrable  series  of 
treacheries.  The  Commandant,  in  defence  of  his  execution  of 
the  Bearded  Sun,  declared  that  he  had  intended  to  liberate  him, 
but  had  been  urged  to  put  him  to  death,  by  his  half-brother  the 
Stung  Serpent,  on  the  ground  of  his  turbulent  character  and  un 
conquerable  hatred  to  the  French ;  in  answer  to  which,  the  gov- 

*  On  this  subject  La  Harpe  writes  in  his  journal : 

"  M.  de  Bienville,  to  put  an  end  to  this  discussion,  told  the  prisoners,  that  they 
could  have  no  doubt,  that  the  great  war  chief,  named  the  Bearded,  brother  of  the 
great  chief  of  the  nation,  was  one  of  the  murderers  of  the  French,  and  had 
caused  the  English  to  be  received  in  their  town  ;  and  that  as  he  was  in  the  power 
of  the  French,  they  would  be  justified  in  killing  him  :  but  that  this  could  not  be 
done,  as  he  had  come  on  the  assurance  of  a  promise  of  safety,  unless  his  nation 
consented  to  it.  Thereupon,  all  the  chiefs  told  M.  de  Bienville,  that  it  would  be 
proper^  to  get  rid  of  him,  as  he  was  a  turbulent  and  faithless  man,  who  was 
always  disturbing  the  public  tranquillity,  &c.v 

Richebourg  in  his  memoir,  says  nothing  of  the  promise  of  safe  conduct :  re 
presenting  the  arrival  of  the  chiefs,  at  the  French  camp,  as  the  result  of  a 
"  snare  set  for  them"  by  Bienville,  in  stating  that  his  object  was  merely  to  found 
a  trading  post  at  their  town. 


312  RECAL    OF    LA    MOTTE    CADILLAC.  [1716. 

ernor  showed,  that  Bienville  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  the 
direct  interest  of  the  Stung  Serpent,  in  the  removal  of  the  Bearded 
Sun,  who  agreeably  to  the  law  of  succession  among  the  Natches, 
would  have  inherited  the  chieftaincy,  (as  he  in  fact  did)  on  the 
decease  of  the  Great  Sun.  On  this  latter  occasion,  La  Motte 
Cadillac  forgot,  that  he  had  himself,  only  a  few  months  previous, 
boasted  in  a  despatch  to  the  government,  of  his  having  induced 
one  of  the  Chocta  chiefs,  to  kill  his  brother,  by  promising  to  insure 
to  him  the  place  of  the  murdered  man. 

The  energetic  proceedings  of  Bienville  towards  the  Choctas 
and  the  Natches,  produced  immediate  and  powerful  effects  on 
the  other  Indian  nations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Mobile  rivers.  The  Muscoghees  of  the  upper  Alabama,  called 
Alibamons  by  the  French,  sent  a  deputation  to  Mobile,  to  renew 
their  treaties  of  friendship ;  and  they  consented  to  the  establish 
ment  of  a  garrison  in  their  country,  which  was,  accordingly, 
placed  in  a  fort  erected  at  the  confluence  of  the  Coosa  and  Tali- 
poosa  rivers,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  town  of  Montgomery, 
in  the  State  of  Alabama.  The  Chickasas  were  induced  to  expel 
the  English  traders  from  their  country,  and  the  Illinois  invited 
the  French  to  resume  their  posts  and  missions  in  the  regions  of 
the  upper  Mississippi. 

In  the  meantime,  Crozat,  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  man 
ner  in  which  his  affairs  had  been  conducted,  and  attributing  the 
unpromising  state  of  his  colony,  to  the  incapacity  of  La  Motte 
Cadillac  and  Duclos,  had  obtained  their  recall;  and  in  their 
places,  M.  D'Epinay  was  appointed  Governor,  and  M.  Hubert, 
Commissary,  on  the  8th  of  October,  1716.  In  order  to  secure 
the  attachment  of  the  new  officers  to  his  interests,  Crozat  in 
creased  their  salaries,  on  the  express  condition  that  they  should 
not  interfere  with  the  commerce  of  the  country,  except  in  the 
enforcement  of  his  monopolising  restrictions;  and  he,  at  the 
same  time,  procured  decrees  from  the  government,  defining  more 
particularly  the  powers  and  duties  of  each  and  all  the  mem 
bers  of  the  administration  in  Louisiana.  The  Governor  was 
made  the  exclusive  director  of  all  that  regarded  the  civil  and 
military  operations  ;  the  financial  affairs  of  the  colony,  and  the 
courts  of  justice  were  to  be  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
Commissary,  and  these  two  chief  officers  were  to  regulate  in 


1716.]          M.  D'EPINAY  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA.  313 

concert,  what  might  be  necessary  for  the  police  of  the  country. 
To  console  Bienville  for  the  neglect  of  his  claims  to  the  governor 
ship,  the  cross  of  St.  Louis  was  sent  to  him,  and  he  was  made 
proprietor  of  Horn  island,  a  barren  strip  of  land  rising  above 
the  sea  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Pascagoula  river,  which  was 
then,  at  least,  utterly  worthless. 

The  new  Governor  Epinay,  and  the  Commissary  Hubert,  ar 
rived  at  Mobile  in  March,  1717,  with  three  companies  of  sol 
diers,  and  fifty  settlers;  and  La  Motte  Cadillac  and  Duclos  soon 
after  returned  to  France.  Bienville  was  of  course  little  pleased 
with  the  obliviousness  of  his  services,  shown  by  the  appointment 
of  Epinay,  for  which  his  cross  of  St.  Louis,  and  his  island,  were 
but  poor  indemnification ;  and  he  was  accordingly  soon  at.  war 
with  the  Governor,  and  the  Commissary  both.  Epinay  imme 
diately  exerted  himself  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  state  of 
the  colony  and  to  remedy  its  evils,  and  he  succeeded  in  causing 
the  cargo  of  the  ship,  in  which  he  made  his  passage  to  be  smug 
gled  into  Mexico,  near  Vera  Cruz.  He  also  renewed  treaties  with 
the  Indian  nations,  and  had  made  arrangements  for  the  commence 
ment  of  an  effective  fortification  on  Dauphine  island  ;  but  a  storm 
in  the  month  of  August,  entirely  destroyed  the  harbor  at  that 
place,  by  filling  it  writh  sand,  and  the  stores  of  the  colony  were  in 
consequence  removed  to  Biloxy,  the  spot  at  which  they  had  been 
first  established.  Why  Mobile  -was  not  selected  in  preference,  is 
not  stated  in  the  records  of  that  time ;  but  probably,  the  bay  had 
not  then  been  examined  with  care  sufficient  for  the  discovery  of 
the  main  channel  through  it.  Bienville  who  never  lost  sight  of 
the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  agriculture  and  trade  of  the 
Mississippi  country,  again  recommended  the  place  which  he  had 
selected  for  the  centre  of  government  and  commerce  of  Louisiana,  . 
on  the  great  river  near  Lake  Pontchartrain ;  and  he  had  prevailed 
on  Epinay,  to  take  some  measures  for  its  occupation,  when  news 
arrived  of  a  material  change,  which  had  been  effected  in  the 
regulation  of  the  affairs  of  that  part  of  America. 

In  the  meantime,  St.  Denis  was  engaged  on  his  second  expe 
dition  to  the  Mexican  provinces,  which  ended  still  more  unfor 
tunately  for  the  objects  in  view,  than  the  first.  He  departed  from 
Mobile  in  company  with  the  four  French  traders,  as  already  said, 
in  October,  1716,  for  Natchitoches,  where  they  arrived  by  way 
40 


314        SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    ST.    DENIS    TO    MEXICO.       [1717. 

of  the  lakes,  the  Mississippi  and  the  Red  river,  on  the  21st  of  No 
vember.  During  a  month  passed  there,  they  procured  a  number 
of  horses,  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  continue  their  journey  by 
land;  then  taking  their  course  westward,  they  crossed  the  river  of 
the  Adayes  now  the  Sabine,  and  on  the  6th  of  January,  1717, 
they  reached  the  village  of  the  Ayish  Indians,  where  they  found 
a  Spanish  mission  and  a  small  garrison,  the  members  of  which 
received  them  with  much  kindness.  Thence  they  passed  on  to 
Nacogdoches,  and  through  the  other  Spanish  missions  to  the 
Trinity  river,  from  which  St.  Denis  left  the  traders  to  follow  with 
their  goods  at  their  leisure,  and  hastened  on  with  a  few  Indians  to 
San  Juan  Bautista,  to  join  his  wife. 

St.  Denis  arrived  at  the  Presidio  early  in  April ;  but  changes 
had  taken  place  in  Mexico,  since  his  former  visit,  which  were  by 
no  means  favorable.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1716,  the  Duke  de 
Linares,  the  Viceroy  by  whom  St.  Denis  had  been  treated  with 
so  much  consideration,  was  succeeded  by  the  Marquis  de  Valero, 
a  man  of  stern  character,  and  very  inimical  to  the  French,  whose 
establishments  in  Louisiana  he  was  specially  instructed  to  restrict, 
and,  if  possible,  to  destroy.  With  this  object,  he  had,  imme 
diately  on  assuming  the  government,  strengthened  the  garrison 
and  fortifications  of  Pensacola,  and  ordered  other  points  to  be 
occupied  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf;  the  prohibi 
tory  regulations  against  foreigners  were  enforced  by^  him  with 
rigor,  and  he  resolved  to  have  the  regions  north  of  the  Rio  Bravo, 
effectively  occupied,  so  as  to  reduce  the  French  within  as  narrow 
limits  as  possible.*  The  charge  of  the  operations  for  the  latter 
purpose,  was  committed  to  Martin  de  Alarcon,  an  old  soldier 
who  entered  fully  into  the  views  of  the  Viceroy,  and  had  been 
appointed  Governor  of  the  province  of  Texas,  or  the  New  Phi 
lippines,  extending  northward  from  the  Medina  or  San  Antonio 
river ;  and  this  officer  was  at  Coahuila,  engaged  in  collecting 
supplies  and  men,  for  the  settlement  and  defence  of  his  province 
at  the  time  when  St.  Denis  reached  the  fort  of  San  Juan. 

Alarcon  had  been  informed  of  the  approach  of  St.  Denis,  and 

*Thc  reasons  for  these  measures  are  detailed  with  minuteness,  in  a  report 
made  by  the  Fiscal  or  Attorney  of  the  Board  of  War  and  Finance  of  Mexico, 
to  the  Viceroy,  in  November,  1716,  setting  forth  the  unjustifiable  encroach 
ments  of  the  French  on  the  territories  of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  recom 
mending  means  for  preventing  their  farther  progress. 


1717.]       RESULTS    OF    THE    EXPED1TONS    OF    ST.    DENIS.  315 

had  given  orders  for  his  arrest,  which  were  obeyed  by  the  Com 
mandant  immediately  on  his  arrival  at  the  fort ;  and  farther  orders 
were  soon  after  received,  agreeably  to  which,  the  Frenchman  was 
sent  as  a  prisoner  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  where  he  arrived  on  the  3d 
of  May.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Duke  de  Linares,  who 
still  remained  in  the  capital,  he  was  at  first  treated  with  some 
kindness  by  the  Viceroy,  and  he  was  allowed  to  remain  at  large 
in  the  capital,  where  he  endeavored  to  dispose  of  the  goods 
brought  by  the  merchantsr  which,  as  he  learned,  had  been  seized 
at  the  Presidio  on  the  Rio  Bravo,  by  order  of  Alarcon.  *  St. 
Denis,  however,  at  the  same  time  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor 
of  Louisiana,  advising  him  to  occupy  the  Bay  of  San  Bernardo, 
as  the  most  convenient  point  for  the  introduction  of  French  mer 
chandise  into  Mexico;  which  communication  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  Spaniards,  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  kept 
confined  for  several  months. 

In  this  interval,  numerous  consultations  had  been  held  among 
the  authorities  at  Mexico,  and  a  detailed  report  of  the  case  had 
been  transmitted  to  Madrid,  accompanied  by  recommendations 
for  the  employment  of  energetic  measures,  to  restrain  the  en 
croachments  of  the  French.  In  consequence  of  this  report,  a 
Royal  Cedula  or  Decree  was  issued  by  the  Council  of  the  In-. 
dies,  on  the  30th  of  January,  1718,  instructing  the  Marquis  de 
Valero  to  establish  forts,  missions  and  settlements  in  Texas, 
and  to  induce  St.  Denis  to  remain  in  Mexico,  by  offers  of  employ 
ment,  but  in  no  event  to  allow  him  to  return  to  Louisiana.  The 
Viceroy  accordingly  liberated  St.  Denis  from  prison,  and  en 
deavored  to  persuade  him  to  accept  a  grant  of  lands,  and  ^n 
office  under  the  government,  in  Guatemala,  to  which  he  pretended 
to  be  favorably  inclined;  but  having  received  private  information 
of  the  order  for  his  detention  in  Mexico,  he  made  his  escape  from 
that  city,  and  after  a  variety  of  adventures,  succeeded  in  reaching 
Mobile,  with  his  wife,  early  in  1719.  The  four  merchants  who 

*  In  the  many  and  voluminous  Spanish  documents  in  manuscript  from  which 
these  accounts  of  the  proceedings  of  St.  Denis  in  Mexico  have  been  drawn,  it  is 
asserted  that  he  engaged,  in  his  first  expedition,  to  return  and  settle  in  Mexico ; 
and  that  on  his  second  appearance,  he  falsely  represented  the  goods  brought  by 
himself  and  the  traders  from  Mobile,  as  his  own  property,  which  he  had  no 
other  means  of  bringing  away  from  Louisiana,  without  exciting  the  suspicions 
of  the  government. 


316  ERROR  AS  TO  DATE  OF  SETTLEMENT  OF  TEXAS.        [1718. 

accompanied  him,  had  long  before  returned  to  Louisiana,  having 
obtained  the  liberation  of  their  goods  from  seizure,  and  permis 
sion  to  dispose  of  them  in  Coahuila,  through  the  intervention  of 
the  priests  of  the  mission  of  San  Juan  Bautista. 

Such  were  simply  the  circumstances  of  the  two  expeditions  of 
St.  Denis  to  Mexico,  upon  which  more  has  been  said,  than  they 
would  seem  to  have  merited,  with  the  object  of  correcting  the 
erroneous  ideas,  generally  entertained,  respecting  the  date  of  the 
first  permanent  settlement  of  the  Spaniards,  in  the  countries  be 
tween  the  Red  river  and  the  Rio  Bravo.*  That  establishment 
was,  as  has  been  shown,  entirely  the  result  of  the  premature  at 
tempts  of  the  French,  to  force  a  trade  with  the  northern' provinces 
of  Mexico,  which,  by  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the  Spanish  Gov 
ernment,  induced  the  adoption  of  such  expensive  measures,  for 
the  enforcement  of  its  prohibitive  system  on  the  northern  frontiers 

*  Humboldt,  in  his  admirable  Political  Essay  on  New  Spain,  first  published  in 
1811,  (vol.  1,  chap.  8,)  makes  the  following  observation  with  regard  to  the  claim 
of  the  United  States,  to  the  territories  between  the  Red  river  and  the  Rio  Bravo, 
of  which  Texas  forms  a  part: 

"  Anssi  les  Mexicains  alteguent,  et  avec  raison,  en  leur  faveur,  que  la  popula 
tion  Espagnole  de  Texas  est  tres  ancienne,  qu'elle  est  venue  des  les  premiers 
temps  de  la  conquete,  par  Linares,  Revilla  et  Camargo,  de  1'interieur  de  la  Nou- 
velle  Espagne,  et  que  M.  de  La  Salle,  en  de"barquant  a  1'ouest  du  Mississipi,  dont 
il  avait  manque"  1'embouchure,  trouva  deja  des  Espagnols  parmiles  sauvages  qu'il 
ess  ay  a  de  combattre." 

"The  Mexicans  also  allege,  and  with  reason,  in  their  behalf,  that  the  Spanish 
population  of  Texas  is  very  ancient,  that  it  came  in  ever  since  the  earliest  pe 
riods  of  the  conquest,  through  Linares,  Revilla  and  Camargo,  from  the  interior 
of  New  Spain ;  and  that  M.  de  la  Salle,  on  landing  west  of  the  Mississippi,  of 
which  he  had  missed  the  mouth,  found  Spaniards  already  among  the  Indians, 
whom  he  endeavored  to  oppose." 

Now  the  conquest  of  Mexico  was  completed  by  the  Spaniards  before  1524 ; 
and  if  the  account  of  the  settlement  of  Texas  here  presented  be  admitted  as  cor 
rect,  the  adoption  of  this  allegation  on  the  part  of  Mexico,  by  the  distinguished 
author  of  the  Essay  on  New  Spain,  must  be  regarded  as  a  remarkable  exception 
to  the  general  accuracy  of  his  statements  and  opinions.  It  may  be  observed  in 
addition,  that  neither  Camargo  nor  Revilla  were  founded  before  1750,  about 
which  time,  the  earliest  settlements  were  made  on  the  lower  part  of  the  Rio 
Bravo.  As  to  the  Spaniards  said  to  have  been  met  by  La  Salle  among  the  In 
dians,  no  mention  is  made  of  them  by  Joutel  or  Father  Anastase,  or  Tonty  or 
Charlevoix,  or  any  other  authority,  with  regard  to  the  particulars  of  that  unfor 
tunate  expedition. 

This  is  not  to  be  considered  as  prejudging  any  thing,  with  regard  to  the  validity 
of  the  claim  of  the  United  States  to  the  countries  in  question  ;  but  merely  as  a 
correction  of  an  erroneous  opinion. 


1718.]  STATE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PROVINCES.  317 

of  New  Spain.  The  right  of  the  Spaniards  to  occupy  this  terri 
tory  cannot  be  doubted  :  the  single  position  taken  by  the  French 
on  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis  in  1685,  was  -destroyed  two  years  after 
wards  ;  and  no  attempt  having  been  since  made  by  that  nation,  to 
resume  the  possession,  its  title  might  have  been  fairly  considered 
as  extinct  by  prescription.  It  may  be  here  added,  that  the  Span 
ish  settlements  thus  formed  in  1717  were  maintained  without  in 
terruption,  and  indeed  without  direct  question  by  the  French, 
except  during  the  short  period  of  the  war  between  the  two  nations 
in  1719 ;  after  which  they  were  increased  and  strengthened,  and 
they  subsisted  quietly  under  the  dominion  of  Spain  for  more  than 
a  century. 

In  Florida,  much  alarm  was  created  among  the  Spaniards,  by 
the  expulsion  of  the  Yamassees  from  Carolina,  and  the  subsequent 
establishment  by  the  English,  of  a  fort  at  the  point  where  the 
Oconee  and  the  Okmulgee  rivers  unite  to  form  the  Alatamaha. 
The  fugitive  Indians  fixed  their  habitations  nearly  in  the  centre 
of  the  Peninsula ;  and  they  wrere  followed  by  other  tribes  of  the 
Muscoghee  confederacy,  who,  driven  from  their  old  grounds  be 
tween  the  Savannah  and  the  JChattahoochee,  by  the  approach  of 
the  white  men,  went  to  increase  the  numbers  of  the  Istisemole  or 
Runaways,  commonly  called  Seminoles,  in  the  vicinity  of  San 
Juanito  or  Suwannee.  The  English  in  Carolina  were,  in  the 
meantime,  in  a  prosperous  condition,  notwithstanding  their  con 
stant  disputes  with  the  proprietors ;  and  that  province  alone 
contained,  probably,  more  persons  of  European  race,  than  all  the 
French  and  Spanish  dominions  in  America  north  of  the  Rio  Bravo, 
besides  many  negroes.  A  plan  was  proposed  in  1717  by  Sir 
Robert  Montgomery  a  speculating  Scotch  baronet,  for  the  set 
tlement  of  the  country  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Alatamaha, 
which  was  to  be  called  the  Margravate  of  Azilia ;  and  a  grant 
of  the  territory  was  obtained  with  that  object,  from  the  proprietors 
of  Carolina,  whose  charter  extended  southward  to  the  29th  par 
allel  of  latitude :  but  the  scheme  was  so  evidently  intended  only 
for  the  benefit  of  the  projector,  that  nothing  was  done  in  execution 
of  it.  The  Bahama  islands,  which  had  long  been  the  resort  of 
bucaniers  and  pirates,  were  effectively  occupied  as  British  colo 
nies,  to  the  security  of  their  vessels,  engaged  in  the  trade  between 
the  West  Indies  and  the  ports  on  the  continent. 


318          STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  THE  FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH.    [1718. 

• 

In  Virginia,  practicable  routes  had  Been  discovered  through 
the  Alleghany  mountains  ;  and  the  active  Governor  Spotswood, 
was  endeavoring  to  organize  a  company  in  England,  for  the  set 
tlement  of  the  fertile  countries  of  the  upper  Ohio.  In  the  Iroquois 
region,  a  struggle  for  supremacy  was  maintained  between  the 
British  traders  and  political  agents,  and  those  of  France ;  and  a 
long  correspondence  was  carried  on,  between  the  Governors  of 
Canada  and  New  York,  as  to  the  true  sense  of  the  stipulations 
of  the  Utrecht  treaty  respecting  those  countries,  which  each  party 
interpreted  in  its  own  favor.  A  similar  struggle  was  in  progress 
in  Nova  Scotia,  where  the  boundaries  still  remained  unsettled ; 
no  commissaries  having  been  appointed  by  either  nation  for  that 
purpose,  or  for  the  determination  of  the  southern  limits  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  territories,  as  provider  vby  the  same  treaty.  The 
French  had  indeed  evacuated  the  greater  part  of  the  Acadian 
Peninsula,  but  without  admitting  the  right  of  Great  Britain  ;  and 
they  were  engaged  in  the  erection  of  a  vast  fortress,  called  Louis- 
bourg,  on  the  adjacent  island  of  Cape  Breton,  on  which  millions 
of  livres  were  annually  expended,  under  the  direction  of  engineers, 
trained  in  the  school  of  Vauban.  The  English  built  no  fortresses, 
except  a  few  block-houses  at  exposed  points  ;  the  frugal  people 
of  their  colonies,  dreading  the  expenses  and  other  evils  accompa 
nying  such  establishments,  more  than  the  attacks  which  they 
were  intended  to  avert. 


CHAPTER    X. 


1718    TO     1721. 


LAW'S  MISSISSIPPI  SCHEME — LOUISIANA  SURRENDERED  BY 
CROZAT  AND  TRANSFERRED  TO  THE  COMPANY  OF  THE  WEST 
— NEW  ORLEANS  FOUNDED  BY  BIENVILLE — FARTHER  ES 
TABLISHMENTS  OF  THE  SPANIARDS  IN  TEXAS — EXPEDITION 
OF  LA  HARPE  TO  THE  RED  RIVER — WAR  BETWEEN  FRANCE 
AND  SPAIN — HOSTILITIES  ON  THE  MEXICAN  GULF — CAP 
TURE  OF  PENSACOLA  BY  THE  FRENCH — SUSPENSION  OF  THE 
WAR — EXPLOSION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  SCHEME. 

WHILST  the  events  last  related  were  in  progress  in  America, 
great  changes  had  occurred  in  Europe,  which  materially  affected 
the  condition  and  prospects  of  Louisiana.  By  one  of  those  for 
tuitous  combinations  of  circumstances,  which,  from  time  to  time, 
give  an  impulse  to  the  movements  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  indi 
viduals,  the  attention  of  the  whole  civilized  world  was  directed 
to  the  regions  of  the  Mississippi;  and  the  French  colony  in  that 
quarter,  became,  in  appearance  at  least,  the  object  of  the  especial 
care  of  the  mother  country. 

Upon  the  death  of  Louis  XIV.  France  was  left  in  a  most  im 
poverished  condition.  Its  national  debt  exceeded  two  thousand 
millions  of  livres,*  on  which  the  annual  interest  amounted  to 

*  The  French  livre  was  at  that  time  one  fifty-fourth  part  of  the  marc  (3778 
grains  troy)  of  silver,  of  eleven-twelfths  of  pure  metal ;  and  its  value  in  currency 
of  the  United  States,  was  almost  exactly  sixteen  cents  and  three-quarters.  The 
value  of  the  livre  was,  however,  frequently  changed  during  the  eight  following 
years,  until,  at  length,  in  1726,  it  was  fixed  at  forty-nine  livres  and  three-quar 
ters  to  the  marc  of  silver,  making  its  value  exactly  seventeen  cents  and  four 
mills,  at  which  it  remained  until  1774. 

The  national  debt  of  France  in  1718,  may  therefore  be  considered  as  about 
three  hundred  and  forty  millions  of  dollars ;  the  division  of  the  other  sums  men 
tioned  in  this  chapter  by  six,  will  give  nearly  their  respective  values,  in  the 
same  currency. 


320  LAW'S  MISSISSIPPI  SCHEME.  [1716. 

eighty  millions  ;  and  although  taxation  was  carried  to  the  ut 
most  extent,  yet  such  was  the  disorder,  extravagance,  and  dis 
honesty  of  all  concerned  in  the  administration,  that  means  could 
with  difficulty  be  raised  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment.  The  state  bills,  or  public  securities,  had  fallen  to  one- 
third  of  their  nominal  value,  and  were  daily  sinking ;  and  not 
withstanding  the  various  expedients  suggested  by  ignorance  or 
knavery  for  deferring  the  catastrophe,  the  kingdom  was  verging 
rapidly  to  bankruptcy. 

The  Regent  Duke  of  Orleans  was  a  man  of  talents,  but  indo 
lent,  profligate  and  luxurious;  and  he  required  immense  sums, 
not  only  for  the  support  of  his  state  and  the  gratification  of  his 
desires,  but  also  in  order  to  create  and  maintain  a  party  for  the 
security  of  the  succession  to  himself,  in  the  probable  event  of  the 
young  king's  death.  Into  his  mind  the  idea  of  retrenchment 
never  entered  ;  he  looked  only  to  increase  of  the  supply,  and  was 
ready  to  engage  in  any  plan,  which  seemed  to  lead  to  that  result. 
Though  alchymy  wras  then  falling  into  disrepute,  its  professors 
could  always  find  a  patron  in  the  Regent;  and  it  is,  therefore,  not 
astonishing,  that  he  should  have  been  easily  induced,  to.  enter  into 
a  scheme,  by  which  a  printing  press  was  to  do  all  that  could 
have  been  expected  from  the  philosopher's  stone. 

This  scheme — so  generally  known  as  the  Mississippi  Scheme — 
was  projected  by  John  Law  a  Scotchman,  the  son  of  a  banker  of 
Edinburg,  and  then  about  forty-five  years  of  age,  whose  life  since 
reaching  manhood,  had  been  spent  in  intrigues  and  gambling  in 
various  parts  of  Europe,  and  whose  ability  in  financial  matters, 
appears  to  have  been  much  less  questionable  than  his  honesty , 
though  upon  that  point,  opinions  are  to  this  day  divided.  His 
object  was  simply  to  substitute  paper  for  coin,  as  a  circulating 
medium,  throughout  the  kingdom  ;  and  as  the  paper  was  to  be 
issued  only  by  the  government,  which  could  issue  to  any  extent, 
the  state  would  never  want  means,  so  long  as  confidence  in  the 
value  of  the  paper  could  be  maintained — that  is  to  say — so  long 
as  the  faith  in  the  capacity  of  the  government  to  redeem  its  paper 
by  real  and  substantial  equivalents,  should  be  sufficient  to  prevent 
any  great  demand  for  such  redemption.  Now  Law  meant  to 
create  confidence,  yet  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  he  could  have 
expected  to  sustain  it  very  long,  while  the  expenses  of  the  state 


1716.]  BANK    OF    JOHN    LAW    AND    COMPANY.  321 

were  immeasurably  beyond  its  real  income.  Still,  many  of  his 
proceedings  seem  to  show  that  he  was  himself  deceived  thus 
far,  by  overweening  persuasion  of  his  own  capacity  to  provide 
an  expedient  against  any  shock  to  which  his  system  could  be 
exposed. 

Law  had  previously  unfolded  his  plan  to  several  European  sove 
reigns,  all  of  whom  had  declined  to  engage  in  it;  one  of  them 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  observing  that  he  was  not  rich  enough  to  be 
so  magnificently  ruined  :  in  the  Regent  of  France,  however,  he 
found  such  a  patron  as  he  could  have  desired,  enthusiastic,  averse 
to  details,  and  unprincipled ;  and  the  scheme  was  soon  set  in 
operation.  The  first  step  was  the  establishment  of  a  bank  at 
Paris  under  the  name  of  John  LawT  and  Company,  in  virtue  of  a 
Royal  Edict  of  May  2d,  1716,  fixing  its  capital  at  six  millions 
of  livres  divided  into  twelve  hundred  shares,  for  which  only  one- 
fourth  was  required  to  be  paid  in  cash,  the  remainder  being  re 
ceivable  in  state  stocks,  then  worth  not  more  than  one-third  of 
their  nominal  value.  The  bank  wras  authorized  to  receive  de- 
posites-and  make  payments  for  individuals,  to  issue  notes,  to  lend 
money  on  security,  and  to  conduct  exchanges,  for  which  purpose 
branches  and  agencies  were  established  throughout  the  kingdom, 
and  afterwards  throughout  Europe ;  though  it  was  prohibited 
from  engaging  in  mercantile  transactions  on  its  own  account. 

Under  these  assurances  and  restrictions,  Law's  bank  begun  its 
operations,  which  were  conducted  with  so  much  punctuality  and 
at  such  moderate  rates  of  profit,  as  soon  to  secure  to  it  the  con 
fidence  of  all  men  of  business.  The  arbitrary  conduct  of  the 
government  for  some  time  previous,  in  altering  the  standards  of 
the  coins  and  their  actual  and  relative  values,  had  produced  so 
much  uncertainty  in  specie  as  a  representative  of  property,  that 
the  notes  of  the  bank  before  the  middle  of  1717,  rose  to  fifteen 
per  cent,  above  par,  and  they  were  made,  by  Royal  Decree,  re 
ceivable  and  payable  without  discount  in  all  transactions  of  the 
government.  The  way  had  been  then  prepared  for  the  second 
grand  measure. 

Ere  that  time,  Crozat  had  been  so  much  injured  in  fortune,  by 

the  expenses  of  his  colony  in  America,  from  which  no  returns 

whatsoever  had  been  received,  or  could  be  expected  within  any 

reasonable  period,  that  he  was  anxious  to  free  himself  from  the 

41 


i 


322 


CHARTER    OF    THE    COMPANY    OF    THE    WEST.         [1717. 


burthen ;  and  Law,  whose  attention  had  been  drawn  to  the  Missis 
sippi  regions,  by  the  report  of  the  discovery  of  a  silver  mine  in 
the  Illinois,  as  already  related,  and  had  thenceforward  determined 
to  embrace  those  countries  in  his  scheme,  proposed  that  they 
should  be  granted  to  a  company,  formed  under  his  direction  for 
their  management.  The  Regent  readily  gave  his  consent;  Crozat 
surrendered  all  his  privileges  to  the  crown  in  August,  1717,*  and 
Letters  Patent  were  immediately  after  issued,  transferring  all  those 
privileges,  with  the  addition  of  many  others,  to  an  association, 
thereby  incorporated,  under  the  title  of  the  Company  of  the  West. 
Agreeably  to  these  Letters  Patent,!  the  entire  commerce  of 
Louisiana  and  the  fur  trade  of  Canada,  were  secured  to  the  com 
pany  for  twenty-five  years ;  during  which  period,  it  should  have 
powers  to  grant  lands,  to  construct  forts,  to  raise  troops,  and  to 
nominate  the  governors  and  other  officers  of  the  colony,  who  were 
however  to  receive  their  commissions  from  the  sovereign.  All 
lands  on  which  permanent  improvements  should  have  been  made, 
and  all  mines  which  should  have  been  discovered  and  worked, 
within  the  same  space  of  time,  were  to  belong  perpetually  to  the 
company,  or  its  grantees ;  goods  exported  to  those  countries 
from  France,  wrere  to  be  free  from  all  duties  whatsoever,  and  those 
imported  from  them  into  France,  were  subjected  to  only  half  the 
duties  payable  on  the  same  goods  \from  other  countries.  The  in 
habitants  of  the  province  were  to  be  exempt  from  all  taxes  and 
duties  whatsoever,  so  long  as  the  charter  of  the  company  should 
subsist ;  and  those  professing  the  Catholic  religion,  whether  na 
tives  of  France  or  of  other  parts  of  Europe,  were  to  be  regarded 
as  Frenchmen,  and  to  enjoy  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
such,  without  being  required  to  obtain  letters  of  naturalization  ; 
though  they  were,  as  before,  prohibited  from  engaging  in  any 
species  of  commerce,  except  as  agents  for  the  company.  The 
powers  and  privileges  of  the  company  in  these  respects,  were, 
moreover,  extended  to  the  Illinois,  which  was  separated  from  the 
Government  of  New  France  and  united  to  that  of  Louisiana,  by 

*  Crozat  was  soon  after  ennobled,  by  tbe  title  of  Marquis  Du  Chatel.  He 
died  in  1738,  at  the  age  of  eigbty-three. 

f  The  Letters  Patent  or  Charter  of  the  company,  containing  fifty-six  articles, 
maybe  found  in  the  original,  in  the  Collection  entitled  "Edits,  Ordonnance* 
Royaux,  &c.  concernant  la  Compagnie  des  Indes." 


1717.]  THE    ILLINOIS    ANNEXED    TO    LOUISIANA.  323 

a  Royal  Edict  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month  of  September  ;* 
and  this  arrangement  of  jurisdictions,  giving  to  New  France  all 
the  territories  of  the  upper  Ohio,  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  its 
lakes  and  streams,  with  the  coasts  and  islands  adjacent  to  its  bay, 
and  to  Louisiana  all  those  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  the  Mo 
bile  and  their  tributaries,  subsisted  until  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  which  extinguished  the  French  dominion  in  North  America. 
For  its  constitution  and  government,  the  shares  of  the  com 
pany  were  fixed  at  five  hundred  livres  each ;  and  the  holder  of 
fifty  shares,  whosoever  he  might  be,  was  entitled  to  a  vote  in  the 
meetings  of  the  company.  The  number  of  shares  was  at  first 
two  hundred  thousand,  making  a  capital  of  one  hundred  millions 
of  livres ;  but  this  number  was  afterwards  considerably  increased 
under  various  pretences.  In  payment  for  the  shares,  the  state 
bills  would  be  received  at  par,  and  each  share  would  entitle  the 
holder,  to  a  dividend  of  all  the  clear  profits  derived  by  the  com 
pany  from  its  possessions;  four  per  cent.,  or  twenty  livres  on 
each  share,  being  secured  on  the  revenues  from  the  tobacco  mo 
nopoly  and  from  other  sources,  by  the  hypothecation  of  forty 
thousand  livres  of  their  anticipated  annual  proceeds  to  the  com 
pany,  on  the  entrance  of  each  million  of  livres  paid  in  for  stock. 
The  affairs  of  the  company  were  to  be  managed  by  a  Board  of 

*  The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  Edict  for  the  annexation  of  the  Illinois 
countries  to  Louisiana  : 

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  REGISTRIES  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  STATE. 

"  The  King  in  his  Council,  having  examined  the  Letters  Patent,  in  form  of 
Edict,  issued  in  the  month  of  August  last,  establishing  a  commercial  company 
under  the  title  of  Company  of  the  West,  as  also  those  of  the  14th  of  September, 
1712  granted  to  the  Sieur  Crozat,  and  considering  it  proper,  for  the  good  of  the 
service,  and  for  the  advantage  and  utility  of  the  Company  of  the  West,  to  ex 
tend  the  government  of  Louisiana,  and  to  add  to  it  the  country  of  the  Illinois 
savages ;  having  heard  the  reports  thereon,  His  Majesty  being  in  his  Council, 
with  the  advice  pf  the  Duke  of  Orleans  His  uncle  the  Regent,  has  united  and 
incorporated  the  said  country  of  the  savages,  with  the  government  of  the  pro 
vince  of  Louisiana;  and  He  wills  and  decrees,  that  the  said  Company  of  the 
West  shall  enjoy  the  territories  comprised  under  the  name  of  the  said  country, 
in  the  same  manner  as  it  is  to  enjoy  those  granted  by  the  said  Letters  Patent,  in 
the  month  of  August  last;  and  the  commanders,  officers,  soldiers,  inhabitants, 
and  others  who  are  or  may  be  in  the  said  country,  shall  acknowledge  the  Com 
mandant  General  of  Louisiana,  and  obey  and  submit  to  him,  without  question,  in 
every  way  whatsoever,  under  the  penalty  assigned  for  disobedience.  Done  in  the 
King's  Council,  in  His  Majesty's  presence,  at  Paris,  on  the  27th  September,  1717. 
(Signed)  PHELIPEAUX." 


324        THE   COMPANY  TAKES  POSSESSION  OF  LOUISIANA.     [1718. 

Directors,  holding  their  places  for  three  years ;  the  first  board 
was  to  be  appointed  by  the  crown,  but  after  1720,  the  directors 
were  to  be  chosen  by  the  stockholders.  Law  was  of  course  the 
first  director  appointed;  the  others  Messrs.  D'Artaguette,  Duche, 
Moreau,  Piou,  Castaignes,  and  Mouchard,  were  all  merchants, 
or  holders  of  financial  offices  under  the  government. 

These  were  apparently  generous  offers  on  the  part  of  the  French 
government.  The  holder  of  a  state  bill,  of  the  nominal  value  of 
five  hundred  livres,  but  for  which  not  more  than  a  hundred  and 
sixty  could  have  been  obtained,  was  to  receive  for  it  another 
bill,  on  which  the  annual  interest  of  twenty  livres  was  secured 
in  the  most  effectual  manner,  besides  a  title  to  the  two  hundred- 
thousandth  part  of  the  profits  derivable  from  the  lands,  mines, 
furs,  taxes  and  trade  of  a  territory,  certainly  larger  than  all  Eu 
rope,  and  believed  to  be  infinitely  more  fertile  and  richer  in  min 
erals.  The  first  consideration  was  alone  sufficient  to  induce  the 
holders  of  state  bills  to  exchange  them  for  the  shares  of  the  com 
pany;  and  when  a  large  portion  of  those  shares  had  been  thus 
taken  up,  the  remainder  were  declared  to  be  also  sold.  The  con 
fidence  of  the  public  was  thus  naturally  increased,  and  the  shares 
began  to  rise'in  price,  carrying  up  with  them,  of  course,  the  state 
bills,  which  were  soon  above  par ;  while  specie  was  at  the  same 
time,  brought  into  farther  discredit,  by  edicts  altering  the  value 
of  the  coins,  and  prohibiting  the  payment  of  specie  beyond  a  cer 
tain  amount  in  any  transaction. 

The  Company  of  the  West  entered  into  the  possession  of  Lou 
isiana  in  the  beginning  of  1718.  The  condition  of  the  French 
settlements  in  that  country  near  the  Mexican  Gulf,  was  then  little 
better,  than  at  the  period  when  Crozat  undertook  their  manage 
ment.  Their  population  had  increased  to  about  six  hundred,*  prin 
cipally,  however,  by  additions  to  the  military  force:  no  land  was 
cultivated,  nor  was  any  branch  of  industry  carried  on,  except 
the  trifling  trade  with  the  Indians  and  with  the  Spaniards  of  Pen- 
sacola;  and  the  people  were,  from  all  accounts,  as  vicious  and 
indolent,  as  at  any  previous  period.  Indeed  the  strongest  mark 
of  improvement  indicated  by  the  records  of  the  colony,  was  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  trie  cattle,  which  had  reached  four 

*  The  Report  of  the  Directors  of  the  India  Company,  made  in  1721,  give* 
four  hundred  as  the  number  in  1718,  but  it  was  probably  larger. 


J718.]  EXTRAVAGANT    MAPS    OF    LOUISIANA.  325 

hundred.  In  the  Illinois,  the  white  population  amounted  to 
about  three  hundred,  besides  some  half-breeds,  and  consisted 
almost  entirely  of  traders  from  Canada,  who  had  their  homes 
with  their  Indian  wives,  in  the  villages  of  Kaskaskia  and  Caho- 
kia,  under  the  protection  of  small  French  garrisons.  As  they 
could  receive  no  provisions  from  France,  they  cultivated  the 
earth  sufficiently  to  produce  the  wheat,  Indian  corn,  and  vegeta 
bles  required  for  their  support;  and  they  even  occasionally  sent  a 
few  boats  laden  with  those  articles  down  the  Mississippi  to  Mo 
bile,  in  exchange  for  goods  to  be  employed  in  their  commerce 
with  the  Indians. 

The  Directors  of  the  Company  of  the  West,  were,  however, 
not  akall  discouraged  by  this  unpromising  condition  of  their  ter 
ritories,  with  respect  to  which,  as  on  all  other  points  of  their 
scheme,  they  relied  implicitly  on  the  ignorance  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  of  Europe.  The  extent  of  Louisiana,  according 
to  the  most  moderate  computation,  was  immense,  but  it  might 
still  be  exaggerated  with  advantage:  and  for  this  object,  the  geo 
grapher  Delisle,  produced,  agreeably  to  the  instructions  of  the 
directors,  a  map,  in  which'  that  province  was  made  to  include 
the  whole  division  of  America  north  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  be 
tween  the  Rio  Bravo  and  New  Mexico  on  the  west,  and  the  east 
ernmost  range  of  the  Alleghany  chain  on  the  east;  the  British 
possessions  being  reduced  to  narrow  strips  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
north  of  the  Savannah,  and  Spanish  Florida  including  only  the 
Peninsula  and  the  parts  adjacent,  on  the  ocean  and  gulf.  On 
this  map  were  traced  roads,  cities,  towns,  mines  of  precious 
metals,  and  all  other  marks  of  advancement  in  population  and 
wealth  ;  and  copies  of  it,  accompanied  by  descriptions  equally 
at  variance  with  truth,  were  published  in  the  principal  languages 
of  Europe,  and  circulated  through  that  continent.*  Such  were 
the  origin,  nature  and  objects  of  nearly  all  the  maps  of  Louisiana 
which  appeared  between  1717  and  1723,  and  which  have  been 


*One  of  these  maps  which  has  been  most  frequently  cited  in  proof  of  the  ex 
tension  of  Louisiana  to  the  Rio  Bravo,  is  the  "  Map  of  Louisiana  and  the  Mis 
sissippi  territories,  most  humbly  inscribed  to  William  Law  of  Lawreston,  [the 
brother  of  the  projector  of  the  Mississippi  Scheme,]  by  John  Senex,"  contained 
in  the  "  New  General  Atlas,"  published  at  London  in  1721.  It  is  merely  a  copy, 
with  a  few  trifling  alterations  and  additions,  of  that  of  Delisle. 


326  BIENVILLK    GOVERNOR    GENERAL.  [1718. 

of  late  years,  gravely  adduced,  as  incontestable  proofs  of  the  true 
extent  and  limits  of  that  portion  of  the  French  dominions. 

The  first  act  of  the  company  was  to  recall  Epinay  from  the 
Government  of  Louisiana,  in  place  of  whom  Bienville  was  ap 
pointed  Governor  and  Commandant  General  of  the  province,  with 
his  brother  Chateaugue  and  his  relation  Boisbriarit  under  him  as 

O 

Lieutenants  for  the  King.  The  control  of  the  entire  administra 
tion,  was  committed  to  the  Governor;  but  a  council  similar  to  that 
already  existing,  was  to  be  established,  composed  of  the  Gov 
ernor,  the  King's  Lieutenants,  the  Royal  Commissary,  the  Attor 
ney  General,  the  Secretary,  and  three  Directors  General  for  the 
Company,  to  which  all  important  matters  were  to  be  submitted  for 
consideration.  The  Illinois  was  to  form  a  sub-province,  of  which 
one  of  the  King's  Lieutenants  was  to  be  the  Commandant;  and 
this  charge  was  assigned  to  Boisbriant,  Chateaugue  acting  imme 
diately  under  his  brother,  in  the  lowrer  country.  The  other  mem 
bers  of  the  Council  of  Administration  were  Hubert  the  Commis 
sary  General,  Cartier  de  Baune  the  Attorney  General,  Couture  the 
Secretary,  and  Villardo,  Legast,  and  Larchambaut,  Directors  for 
the  Company. 

Bienville  thus  obtained  the  object  to  which  his  wishes  had  been 
long  directed ;  and  his  appointment  was  probably  the  best  which 
could  have  been  made  under  the  circumstances.  He  was  intrac 
table  and  impatient  of  control  or  contradiction,  and  the  manner 
in  which  his  life  had  been  spent,  since  his  arrival  at  manhood, 
had  rendered  him  unscrupulous  as  to  the  means  to  be  employed 
for  the  attainment  of  an  end :  but  he  was  well  acquainted  with 
Louisiana,  and  really  desirous  to  promote  its  advancement,  with 
which  his  own  fame  and  fortune  were  connected ;  and  that  was 
as  much  as  the  Company  of  the  West  could  have  expected.  He 
was,  in  fine,  precisely  such  a  man,  as  the  Spanish  Council  of  the 
Indies  would  have  selected  for  the.  government  of  a  frontier 
province. 

The  system  adopted  by  the  Company  of  the  West  for  the  ad 
ministration  of  Louisiana,  differed  very  little  from  that  of  Crozat, 
nearly  all  the  erroneous  views  of  which  were  preserved:  these 
views  were,  however,  universally  entertained  at  the  time;  and 
as  the  object  of  the  company  wras  solely  to  raise  the  price  of 
its  stocks,  any  departure  from  established  notions,  would  have 


1718.]        FIRST    CONCESSIONS     OF    LANDS    IN    LOUISIANA.          327 

been  highly  impolitic.  The  commerce  was  to  be  conducted  on 
the  strictest  principles  of  monopoly :  no  foreign  vessel,  nor 
French  vessel  except  under  license  from  the  company,  could 
enter  any  port  in  the  territory;  and  the  inhabitants,  as  before, 
could  buy  and  sell,  only  from  and  to  the  company's  agents,  and 
at  prices  fixed  by  tariffs,  for  each  factory  or  place  of  business.  In 
order  to  provide  a  population  for  the  country,  large  tracts  of  land, 
principally  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  were  granted  to  in 
dividuals  or  associations,  on  condition  of  their  establishing  in 
each,  a  certain  number  of  persons  within  a  given  period.'  These 
large  tracts  were  called  Concessions,  and  the  grantees  were  to  form 
a  baronial  class  in  the  province;  small  grants,  called  Habitations, 
were  also  made,  the  occupants  of  which — Habitans — were  to 
represent  the  peasantry;  the  name  of  Etablissement  was  specially 
assigned  to  a  group  or  collection  of  habitations. 

The  first  concessions  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Mobile  and  Biloxy, 
and  on  the  east  or  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  at  Baton  Rouge, 
the  Tunica  cliffs,  the  Natches  towns,  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo 
and  other  places  intermediate,  above  the  reach  of  the , river  during 
its  annual  spring  floods  ;  after  which,  points  on  the  same  side, 
not  thus  naturally  secured  from  inundation,  were  occupied.  On 
the  right:  or  west  bank,  no  grant  was  made  for  some  time,  except 
that  of  four  leagues  square  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  which 
were  assigned  to  Law,  upon  the  condition  that  he  should  place 
eight  thousand  persons  there  as  settlers,  within  three  years.*  It 
should  here  be  observed,  that  nearly  the  whole  territory  south  of 
the  Ohio  and  adjacent  to  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  is  below 
the  surface  of  the  latter  river  at  its  greatest  height,  and  is  covered 
by  its  waters  for  some  time  in  each  year,  to  the  distance  of  seve 
ral  miles.  Large  portions  of  the  country  on  the  eastern  side,  in 
cluding  all  below  Baton  Rouge,  are  similarly  situated;  that  place 
and  the  others  first  occupied  by  the  French  farther  north  being 
the  extremities  of  ridges,  thence  extending  from  the  east,  and 

*  The  measures  of  land  in  Louisiana  were  those  of  Paris,  viz. — the  Pied  or 
Foot  equal  to  12.7893  inches  English — the  Toise  or  Fathom  of  six  pieds — and 
the  Arpent  of  thirty  toises  or  one  hundred  and  eighty  pieds  square,  equal  to  one 
English  acre  and  one-fifth.  The  concessions  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi 
usually  embraced  a  certain  number  of  arpents  on  the  river,  (deface  aufleuve)  arid 
a  certain  number  behind  the  former,  generally  to  the  depth  of  forty,  so  as  to  in 
clude  all  the  land  fit  for  cultivation  between  the  stream  and  the  swamp. 


328  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    BANKS.  [1718. 

separated  by  vallies,  with  streams  flowing  through  them,  which 
are  in  like  manner  raised  above  their  banks,  by  the  back  water 
from  the  Mississippi  in  its  floods.  At  the  places  thus  liable  to 
inundation,  the  highest  ground  is  the  bank  of  the  river  from  which 
the  surface  runs  in  an  inclined  plane  for  a  short  distance,  termina 
ting  usually  in  a  swamp  ;  and  in  order  to  secure  the  lands  from 
the  annual  ravages  of  the  stream,  it  is  necessary  to  raise  the  bank 
above  the  greatest  height  of  the  waters,  by  an  artificial  dyke  or 
rampart  of  earth,  there  called  a  levee,  the  construction  and  main 
tenance  of  which  are  of  course  attended  with  much  labor  and  ex 
pense.  For  this  reason  the  higher  points  were  first  selected  for 
settlements  ;  the  low  grounds  immediately  bordering  the  river 
being,  however,  extremely  fertile,  and  especially  adapted  for  the 
production  of  rice  and  other  valuable  articles,  were  also  speedily 
engaged  by  capitalists,  who  expended  large  amounts  in  the  trans 
portation  of  settlers  and  the  purchase  of  negroes,  to  be  employed 
on  them  for  those  purposes. 

The  first  arrival  of  emigrants  under  the  new  system,  took 
place  in  August,  1718,  when  six  hundred  unfortunate  persons, 
taken  for  the  most  part  from  hospitals  or  prisons  in  France,  were 
landed  on  the  burning  sands  of  Dauphine  island.*  Nearly  all 
of  them  came  as  settlers,  in  parties  directed  by  the  owrnerts  of  the 
tracts  to  which  they  were  destined,  or  by  agents  employed  to  su 
perintend  them;  the  remainder  being  enlisted  as  soldiers.  As 
the  places  to  be  occupied  by  the  settlers,  were  all  far  in  the  inte 
rior,  and  neither  provisions,  nor  means  of  transportation,  nor 
even  shelter  had  been  provided,  a  large  proportion  of  those  peo 
ple  died  immediately  of  fevers;  and  very  few  succeeded  in  reach 
ing  their  concessions,  wrhere  similar  miseries  awaited  them.  The 
soldiers  were  marched  off  to  different  garrisons,  in  which  they 
suffered  no  less  than  the  settlers,  from  sickness  and  hunger;  and 

« 

*  Among  the  proprietors  and  agents  who  came  to  Louisiana  with  these  settlers, 
were  Messrs.  Le  Page  Du  Pratz  and  La  Harpe,  each  of  whom  wrote  a  history 
of  the  colony,  and  M.  Le  Blond  de  la  Tour,  the  engineer  who  drew  the  plan  of 
New  Orleans.  Le  Page  Du  Pratz,  at  first  intended  to  establish  himself  near  the 
new  capital;  but  he  afterwards,  in  conjunction  with  the  Commissary  Hubert, 
formed  a  settlement  at  Natchez,  Avhere  he  remained  for  many  years,  and  was 
then  appointed  superintendent  of  the  plantations  of  the  company,  which  office 
he  held  until  1733. 


1718.]  LARGE     ARRIVAL    OF    EMIGRANTS.  329 

many  of  both  classes,  soon  deserted  to  Florida,  or  Carolina,  or 
took  up  their  abode  among  the  Indians. 

Bienville  protested  against  this  practice  of  sending  to  Louis 
iana,  persons  who  could  only  be  a  burthen  to  it;  and  he  succeeded 
in  a  few  cases,  in  inducing  the  proprietors  of  the  lands,  to  be 
more  careful  in  their  selections.  Many  of  those  proprietors  were, 
however,  in  the  secrets  of  the  company,  and  largely  interested 
in  its  stock,  of  which  they  were  more  anxious  to  keep  up  the 
price,  than  to  benefit  the  colony  on  the  Mississippi ;  and  as  for 
that  object,  numbers,  not  character  of  population,  were  required, 
any  wretch,  who  would  consent  to  be  transported  to  Louisiana, 
was  willingly  received,  Bands  of  such  emigrants  were  occasion 
ally  paraded  through  the  streets  of  Paris,  dressed  in  clothes  pro 
vided  for  the  exhibition,  and  bearing  in  their  hands,  the  imple 
ments  of  agriculture  or  mining  ;  and  the  departure  of  each  vessel 
which  sailed  for  the  Mexican  Gulf,  was  duly  chronicled  in  all  the 
newspapers  of  western  Europe.  The  females  formed  a  very  small 
proportion,  and  they  were  in  character,  generally,  not  better  than 
the  men ;  in  consequence  of  which,  it  is  not  extraordinary,  that 
the  latter  should  have  preferred  concubinage  with  Indians  or  ne 
groes,  to  marriage  with  their  own  country-women. 

In  order  to  secure  Louisiana  against  attacks  from  the  English 
or  the  Spaniards  on  its  frontiers,  as  well  as  to  keep  the  Indians 
in  check,  the  old  fortifications  were  strengthened  and  new  ones 
were  commenced  at  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Arkansas 
and  the  Yazoo,  and  at  the  point  where  the  Alabama  river  is  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  Coosa  and  the  Talipoosa.  At  this  last 
mentioned  place,  the  fort  established  two  years  previous  was 
extended,  and  it  received  the  name  of  Fort  Toulouse,  in  compli 
ment  to  an  illegitimate  son  of  Louis  XIV. ;  and  a  similar  work  on 
a  large  scale  was  commenced  in  the  Illinois,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  sixty-seven  miles  south  of  the  entrance  of  the 
Missouri,  which  was  called  Fort  Chartres,  in  honor  of  the  eldest 
son  of  the  Regent.  The  Illinois  and  Wabash  countries  were 
likewise  explored  by  Dutisne,  and  the  Missouri  was  traced  from 
its  mouth  to  the  entrance  of  the  Kansas,  near  which  a  small  post, 
called  Fort  Orleans,  was  afterwards  established,  under  the  com 
mand  of  M.  de  Bourgmont. 

Bienville  had,  as  already  said,  long  entertained  the  conviction, 
42 


330  FOUNDATION    OF    NEW    ORLEANS.  [1718. 

that  the  colony  could  only  prosper  by  agriculture,  for  which  he 
considered  negroes  indispensable ;  and  from  the  commencement  of 
his  administration  he  constantly  urged  the  Directors  of  the  Com 
pany,  to  take  measures  for  a  regular  and  sufficient  supply  of  such 
laborers  from  the  African  coast.  He,  moreover,  embraced  the 
opportunity  presented  by  the  destruction  of  the  harbor  at  Dau- 
phine  island,  to  recommend  the  immediate  transfer  of  the  seat  of 
government,  and  of  the  public  stores  to  the  banks  of  the  Missis 
sippi;  and  in  anticipation  of  the  assent  of  the  directors,  he 
caused  the  streets  and  squares  of  a  city,  to  be  traced  through  the 
woods  arid  swamps,  bordering  the  great  river  between  it  and 
Lake  Pontchartrain,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  LA  NOUVELLE 
ORLEANS* — NEW  ORLEANS — in  honor  of  the  Regent  Duke. 
The  selection  of  this  spot  was  vehemently  opposed  by  the 
council  of  the  colony.  M.  Hubert  the  Commissary,  whilst  ad 
mitting  that  the  seat  of  government  should  be  on  the  Mississippi, 
was  in  favor  of  its  location  at  Natchez,  where  he  had  himself  re 
ceived  a  large  concession ;  the  others,  for  the  most  part,  were  of 
opinion,  that  commerce  should  be  the  principal  object  of  the  es 
tablishment,  for  which  reason  the  centre  of  business  should  be 
on  the  shore  of  the  Gulf,  between  Mobile  Bay  and  the  entrance  of 
the  lakes.  The  Directors  of  the  Company  preferred  Manchac,  the 
point  at  which  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  during  its  floods,  dis 
charge  themselves  into  the  Iberville,  and  through  it  into  the  lakes, 
situated  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  miles  higher  up  the  river 
than  New  Orleans;  but  their  desire  to  bring  the  embryo  metropo 
lis  in  aid  of  their  scheme,  induced  them  to  acquiesce  in  the  selec 
tion  made  by  the  Commandant.  The  name  of  New  Orleans 
accordingly  appeared  in  Delisle's  maps  in  large  letters;  and  plans 
of  the  city,  accompanied  by  descriptions  of  its  edifices,  were 
circulated  throughout  Europe  in  1718,  ere  a  single  house  had 

*" Those  who  gave  this  name,"  says  Charlevoix,  "supposed  ORLEANS  to  be 
of  the  feminine  gender :  no  matter ;  the  usage  has  been  established,  and  usage 
is  superior  to  rules  of  grammar."  In  addition  to  the  authority  of  the  Jesuit  on 
this  curious  point,  we  have  that  of  the  great  enemy  of  Jesuits,  Voltaire,  who  in 
his  immortal  unmentionable  poem  says — 

Tout  Orleans,  a  ces  grandes  nouvelles, 

Rendit  a  Dieu  graces  solennelles. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  the  founder  of  the  city,  could  not  have  given 
it  his  own  name  of  Bienville,  than  which  none  could  have  been  found  more 
appropriate  in  every  respect. 


1718.]    SPANIARDS  OCCUPY  ST.  JOSEPH'S  AND  ST.  MARK5S.       331 

been  built  on  the  site.  Biloxy  however  continued  for  some  time 
to  be  the  seat  of  the  government,  and  the  depository  of  the  mer 
chandise  of  the  colony ;  and  store  houses  were  built  there,  with 
a  fort  for  their  protection,  to  which  the  name  of  Fort  Louis  was 
transferred,  from  the  old  establishment  on  the  Mobile. 

Another  order  sent  by  the  directors  to  Bienville,  in  furtherance 
of  their  scheme,  was  obeyed  by  him  with  less  alacrity.  It  was 
desirable  to  magnify  the  extent  of  Louisiana  on  the  gulf  as  much 
as  possible;  and  the  governor  was  therefore  instructed  imme 
diately  to  form  establishments  on  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis  or  San  Ber 
nardo,  where  La  Salle's  colony  had  been  planted,  and  on  the  Bay 
of  St.  Joseph  near  the  mouth  of  the  Apalachicola  river,  so  as  to 
give  to  the  province  nearly  the  whole  northern  shore  of  the  gulf, 
leaving  Perisacola  an  isolated  point  in  the  possession  of  Spain. 
Bienville  in  consequence  despatched  his  brother  M.  de  Cha- 
teaugue,  early  in  1718,  with  fifty  men  to  take  possession  of  St. 
Joseph's  Bay ;  but  while  they  were  engaged  in  building  a  fort 
at  the  entrance,  a  Spanish  vessel  arrived,  bearing  a  summons  to 
the  French  to  quit  the  place,  as  being  within  the  territories  of  His 
Catholic  Majesty.  Chateaugue  treated  the  summons  with  con 
tempt:  his  men  however  being  averse  to  the  duty  on  which 
they  were  employed,  more  than  a  third  of  them  deserted  to  St. 
Augustine  or  Pensacola,  where  they  were  well  treated ;  and  Bien 
ville,  willingly  availing  himself  of  these  circumstances,  withdrew 
the  others  from  the  bay,  which  was  immediately  occupied  and 
fortified  by  the  Spaniards. 

The  Viceroy  of  Mexico  had  a  short  time  before  this  occurrence, 
ordered  another  fort  to  be  erected  farther  eastward  on  the  River 
of  St.  Mark,  which  had  been  abandoned  ever  since  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Spanish  establishments  in  that  country  by  the  English 
in  1704;  and  this  was  done  without  loss  of  time,  by  Don  Jose 
Primo  de  Ribera,  who  marched  thither  with  a  body  of  men  across 
the  country  from  St.  Augustine,  in  the  spring  of  1718.  The  in 
termediary  posts  and  routes  for  communication  between  those 
places,  through  the  northern  part  of  the  Peninsula,- were  likewise 
re-established;  and  the  Spaniards  were  thus  enabled  to  acquire 
an  influence  over  the  Indians  in  that  quarter,  which  long  rendered 
abortive,  all  the  attempts  of  the  English  to  gain  possession  of  the 
Apalachicola  countries. 


332  EXPEDITION    OF    ALARCON    TO    TEXAS.  [1718. 

Equally  abortive,  as  will  be  shown,  were  the  attempts  of  the 
French,  to  establish  themselyes  on  the  western  coasts  of  the 
Mexican  Gulf;  on  which,  no  settlement  or  post  of  any  kind,  was 
ever  formed  by  that  nation,  beyond  the  outlets  of  the  Mississippi) 
after  the  failure  of  La  Salle's  attempt  in  1687. 

The  Spanish  governor  of  Texas,  Don  Martin  de  Alarcon,  had, 
meanwhile,  been  actively  engaged  in  the  establishment  of  mili 
tary  posts  and  settlements  in  his  province.  Having  collected  a 
large  number  of  soldiers,  settlers  and  mechanics,  agreeably  to  his 
instructions,  he  crossed  the  Rio  Bravo  early  in  1718,  and  directed 
his  inarch  north-eastwTard  to  the  Medina  river,  the  southern  boun 
dary  of  Texas  ;  beyond  which,  in  the  valley  of  San  Antonio,  dis 
covered  by  Teran  in  1691,  he  commenced  the  fort  of  San  Antonio 
de  Bejar,  and  the  mission  of  San  Antonio  de  Valero.  When 
these  works  were  sufficiently  advanced,  he  continued  his  march 
with  the  remainder  of  his  men  to  the  Qenis  country,  where  he 
strengthened  the  missionary  force,  and  erected  churches,  to  pro 
tect  which  he  placed  a  small  garrison  near  each  of  them;  and 
then  passing  the  river  of  the  Adayes,  called  by  him  Rio  de  San 
Francisco  de  las  Sabinas,  from  the  number  of  juniper  trees  in  its 
vicinity,  he  began  the  construction  of  a  fortress  within  a  few 
leagues  of  Natchitoches,  to  which  he  gave  the  name — not  very 
concise — of  Presidio  de  San  Miguel  Arcangel  de  Linares  de 
Adayes,  in  honor  at  once,  of  the  Archangel  and  the  Viceroy., 

Information  of  these  movements  of  the  Spaniards  were  con 
veyed  to  Mobile,  where  they  created  some  alarm  ;  and  measures 
were  immediately  taken  by  Bienville  to  counteract  them,  as  well 
as  to  obtain  farther  knowledge  of  the  Red  river  countries.  The 
conduct  of  an  expedition  for  these  objects,  was  assigned  to  Ber 
nard  de  la  Harpe,  an  officer  of  the  royal  army,  who  arrived 
from  France  in  the  summer  of  1718,  with  a  number  of  settlers, 
and  a  patent  for  lands  in  any  occupied  part  of  Louisiana.  He  had 
resolved  to  form  his  establishment  on  the  Red  river;  and  he  was, 
moreover,  commissioned  by  Bienville,  to  found  and  command  a 
military  post  in  that  quarter,  with  special  authority  to  check  all 
attempts  of  the  Spaniards,  to  encroach  upon  the  territories  claimed 
by  the  sovereign  of  France.  La  Harpe  being  an  active  and  sa 
gacious  person,  immediately  transferred  his  people  from  the  coast 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  up  the  Red  river,  to  Natchitoches; 


1718.]    EXPEDITION    OF    LA    HARPE    TO    THE    RED    RIVER.          333 

and  after  a  short  stay  at  that  post,  he  continued  his  journey  much 
farther  in  the  same  direction,  to  the  country  of  the  Nassoni  In 
dians,  where  he,  in  May,  1719,  begun  a  settlement,  in  latitude, 
according  to  his  observation,  of  33  degrees  55  minutes.* 

On  his  way  to  this  place,  La  Harpe  had  made  inquiries  respect 
ing  the  Spanish  establishments  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Red  river ; 
and  learning  that  little  community  of  feeling  existed  between  the 
Governor  of  Texas  and  the  missionaries,  he  despatched  a  letter 
privately,  to  Father  Antonio  Margil,  the  superior  of  the  Francis 
can  missions  among  the  Cenis,  with  the  object  of  interesting  him 
and  his  brethren,  in  the  furtherance  of  the  trade  in  that  quarter, 
by  the  offer  of  two  or  three  per  cent,  to  them,  on  all  goods  which 
might  be  introduced  from  Louisiana  into  the  Spanish  provinces. 
He  also  at  the  same  time  addressed  a  letter  to  Alarcon,  enclosing 
another  from  the  Governor  of  Louisiana,  in  which  he  declared  his 
desire  to  promote  amicable  feelings  between  the  French  and  the 
Spaniards  ;  and  answers  to  both  these  communications  were  re 
ceived  by  him,  at  his  new  establishment.  The  friar  appeared  well 
disposed  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  La  Harpe,  to  whom  he, 
however,  recommended  the  utmost  secrecy  in  their  correspon 
dence,  on  account  of  the  inimical  feelings  of  the  Governor  of 
Texas  towards  the  missionaries;  but  Alarcon  utterly  denied  the 
right  of  the  French  to  the  place  thus  occupied  by  them  in  the 
Nassoni  country,  and  rudely  summoned  them  to  quit  the  territo 
ries  of  the  Spanish  province  of  Texas.  La  Harpe  replied  in  the 
same  tone,  asserting  that  the  country,  called  by  Alarcon  the  Pro 
vince  of  Texas,  had  been  first  possessed  by  the  French,  under  La 
Salle  in  1684,  since  which  time,  the  possession  had  been  fre 
quently  renewed ;  and  that  the  rivers  falling  into  the  Mississippi, 
as  well  as  the  territories  which  they  include,  naturally  belong  to 
the  King  of  France :  ending  by  an  assurance,  that  whenever  the 
Spaniards  should  visit  the  French  fort,  they  would  find  that  it 


*  The  latitude  here  given  by  La  Harpe  is,  probably,  about  a  degree  too  high ; 
the  place  at  which  he  made  his  settlement,  seems  to  have  been  the  Long  Prairie, 
in  the  south-west  portion  of  the  State  of  Arkansas,  about  seven  hundred  miles 
by  the  Red  river  from  its  mouth.  A  French  population  was  certainly  main 
tained  there  until  1780,  when  the  people  removed  down  the  river  to  Campti, 
thirty  miles  above  Natchitoches.  La  Harpe  makes  an  error  of  the  same  extent, 
as  to  the  latitude  of  Natch itoches. 


334  CORRESPONDENCE LA  HARPE  AND  ALARCON.         [1718. 

could  be  maintained  against  them.*  There  the  correspondence 
ended;  and  Alarcon,  who  had  become  odious  to  the  missionaries, 
was  soon  after  recalled  from  the  Government  of  Texas. 

*  The  following  is  a  translation  of  these  letters  from  La  Harpe's  Journal : — 

From  La  Harpe  to  Alarcon,  written  in  the  beginning  of  May,  1719. 
"  SIR — I  have,  with  great  pleasure,  taken  charge  of  the  letter,  which  I  have 
the  honor  to  send  you,  from  M.  de  Bienville,  the  Commandant  General  of  the 
Province  of  Louisiana.  On  his  confiding  to  me  this  post  of  the  Nassonis,  he  en 
joined  me  to  render  every  service,  which  might  be  in  my  power,  to  the  Spanish 
nation  ;  I  can  assure  you  sir,  that  I  will  execute  his  orders  with  pleasure,  having 
nothing  more  at  heart,  than  to  prove  to  you,  on  every  occasion,  that  no  one  has 
the  honor  to  be,  more  completely  than  myself,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant,  LA  HARPE." 

From  Alarcon  to  La  Harpe,  dated  Trinity  river,  May  20,  1719. 
"  SIR — I  am  sensible  of  your  kindness,  and  of  that  of  M.  de  Bienville,  by  which 
I  am  honored.  The  orders  which  I  have  received  from  the  king  my  master,  are, 
that  I  should  maintain  a  good  understanding  with  the  French  of  Louisiana,  and 
my  own  desires  lead  me  no  less  to  render  them  every  service  in  my  power.  1 
cannot,  however,  refrain  from  telling  you,  that  your  arrival  among  the  Nassonis 
surprises  me  extremely.  Your  Governor  must  be  ignorant,  that  the  post  which 
you  occupy  is  within  my  Government ;  and  that  all  the  territory  west  of  the 
Nassonis  belongs  to  the  Government  of  New  Mexico.  I  therefore  advise  you 
to  communicate  this  to  M.  de  Bienville,  or  you  Avill  oblige  me  to  force  you  to 
abandon  the  country,  on  which  the  French  have  no  right  to  settle. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c.  ALARCON." 

To  this  La  Harpe  replied  from  his  post  on  Red  river,  on  the  8th  of  June : 
"  SIR  : — The  orders  which  you  have  received  from  His  Catholic  Majesty,  to 
maintain  a  good  understanding  with  the  French  of  Louisiana,  and  the  inclination 
which  you  profess  towards  them,  do  not  accord  with  your  conduct.  Permit  me 
to  tell  you,  that  M.  de  Bienville  is  perfectly  informed  as  to  the  limits  of  his  Gov 
ernment  ;  and  is  assured,  that  the  post  of  the  Nassonis  is  not  within  the  depen 
dencies  of  His  Catholic  Majesty.  He  moreover  knows,  that  the  province  which 
you  call  Las  Tekas,  and  of  which  you  style  yourself  the  Governor,  forms  a  part 
of  Louisiana.  M.  de  La  Salle  took  possession  of  it  in  1684  ;  and  since  that  pe 
riod,  it  has  been  renewed  at  various  times.  With  regard  to  the  territories  west 
of  the  Nassonis,  I  cannot  understand  by  what  right  you  pretend,  that  they  form 
part  of  New  Mexico.  Upon  that  subject,  I  have  to  represent  to  you,  that  Don 
Antoine  du  Miroir,  who  in  1683  discovered  the  provinces  of  the  north,  never 
penetrated  into  the  countries  east  of  New  Mexico,  arid  of  the  Rio  Bravo ;  the 
French  were  the  first  to  make  alliances  with  the  savage  Indians  there.  It  is 
moreover  most  natural  to  regard  the  rivers  which  flow  into  the  Mississippi,  as 
belonging  to  the  King  my  master,  as  also  in  consequence,  the  lands  included 
among  them.  If  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  come  into  this  quarter,  I  will  show 
you  that  I  occupy  a  post  which  I  can  defend.  Yours,  &c.,  LA  HARPE." 

The  Don  Antoine  du  Miroir  mentioned  by  La  Harpe,  as  the  discoverer  of  the 
northern  provinces  in  1683,  is  no  other  than  Don  Antonio  de  Espejo,  who  pene 
trated  those  regions  in  1583  (see  page  159 ;)  the  Frenchman  having  translated 
the  name  of  the  Spaniard  literally  into  his  own  language,  and  retarded  the  date 
of  the  expedition  by  a  century. 


1718.]        LAW'S  BANK  BECOMES  THE  BANK  OF  FRANCE.  335 

La  Harpe  finding  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Span 
iards,  after  completing  his  little  fort,  left  a  few  men  in  it,  and  set 
out  to  explore  the  country  farther  north-west.  In  this  direction 
he  proceeded  several  hundred  miles,  crossing  the  Washita,  and  a 
branch  of  the  Arkansas,  near  which  he  visited  a  large  encamp 
ment  of  Indians,  of  several  tribes,  previously  unknown  to  the 
French.  He  was,  however,  unable  to  obtain  any  information  on 
the  points  on  which  he  was  most  anxious  ;  the  Indians  being  un 
acquainted  with  mines,  or  routes  to  the  Spanish  provinces  or  to 
the  Pacific:  and  after  escaping  several  dangers  from  savages,  and 
suffering  from  illness,  he  returned  to  Mobile  in  the  spring  of  1720, 
but  little  pleased  with  his  prospects  on  the  Red  river. 

The  success  of  the  Company  of  the  West  had,  in  the  mean 
time,  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  founders; 
and  at  the  end  of  1718,  a  dividend  of  twelve  per  cent,  was  de 
clared  on  its  shares,  which  was  promptly  paid  to  the  amount  of 
twelve  millions  of  livres.  In  September  of  that  year,  it  had  been 
endowed  with  the  administration  of  the  tobacco  monopoly,  for 
which  it  was  to  pay  four  millions  of  livres  annually  to  the  crown  ; 
and  nearly  all  the  other  branches  of  the  public  revenue  were  soon 
after,  in  like  manner,  conceded  to  it.  The  specie  of  the  king 
dom  was,  meanwhile,  kept  in  a  fluctuating  state,  by  decrees  un 
expectedly  issued  for  re-coinage,  or  for  alterations  in  the  nominal 
value  of  the  existing  pieces,  all  of  which  tended  to  increase  con 
fidence  in  the  notes  of  the  bank;  and  when  the  public  had  thus 
been  prepared,  another  great  measure  was  carried  into  execution. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  the  Regent,  by  a  Royal  Edict,  de 
clared  Law's  bank  to  be  the  Bank  of  France,  as  he  had  purchased 
the  whole  of  its  stock,  and  converted  it  into  the  stock  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  Company,  which  thus  became  the  capital  of  the  institu 
tion  ;  and  this  mark  of  confidence  in  the  stability  and  success  of 
the  Company,  led  to  a  rise  in  the  value  of  its  shares,  which  every 
one  became  anxious  to  buy.  People  sold  their  real  property,  and 
moveables,  and  converted  the  proceeds  into  Mississippi  shares ; 
and  when  these  had  reached  a  certain  height,  the  government 
cautiously  disposed  of  the  number  reserved  for  itself,  by  which 
means  nearly  five  hundred  millions  in  state  bills  were  withdrawn, 
and  the  public  debt  to  that  amount  was  extinguished.  These 
operations  were  made  the  excuse  for  the  issue  of  large  quantities 


336  ESTABLISHMENT    OF    THE    INDIA    COMPANY.  [1719. 

of  bank  notes ;  and  a  general  increase  in  the  price  of  labor  and 
of  property  took  place  throughout  France. 

In  the  spring  of  1719,  the  demand  for  Mississippi  stock  had 
become  sufficient  to  authorize  a  new  issue  of  shares ;  as  an  ex 
cuse  for  which,  the  Senegal  Company  holding  the  monopoly  of 
the  Guinea  trade,  and  the  China  and  East  India  Companies  ex 
clusively  conducting  the  commerce  of  the  French  with  Southern 
Asia,  were  successively  united  with  the  Company  of  the  West; 
and  the  latter,  in  consequence,  had  its  title  changed  to  the  India 
Company.  On  the  occasion  of  each  of  these  extensions  of  its 
means,  additional  shares  in  the  Company  were  created ;  and  they 
were  sold  with  rapidity  and  as  acts  of  favor  to  individuals,  who 
could  immediately  afterwards  dispose  of  them  with  profit  for 
many  times  the  original  cost:  until  at  length,  in  November,  1719, 
the  amount  of  stock  issued  was  equal,  at  its  first  price,  to  three 
hundred  millions  of  livres,  but  was  worth  at  the  selling  price, 
three  thousand  six  hundred  millions,  or  about  six  hundred  mil 
lions  of  dollars.  The  state  bills,  or  old  national  debt  had  all  been 
redeemed,  and  the  government  was  rich.  Such  was,  thus  far,  the 
result  of  Law's  scheme. 

At  that  period,  however,  the  French  dominion  in  Louisiana  was 
exposed  to  the  utmost  peril,  by  the  sudden  rupture  of  the  peace 
between  France  and  Spain.  The  appointment  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  as  Regent  of  the  former  kingdom,  was  regarded  with 
strong  feelings  of  jealousy  and  resentment,  by  Philip  V.  of  Spain, 
who  had  never  ceased  to  entertain  the  hope  of  succeeding  to  the 
French  crown,  in  the  event  of  the  death  of  his  nephew  Louis 
XV,,  notwithstanding  his  formal  renunciation  of  that  birth-right 
by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  The  Regent  was  well  informed  of  the 
existence  of  these  feelings,  which  he  returned  by  hatred  and  con 
tempt  ;  and  a  game  of  plots  and  counterplots  was  commenced  by 
these  two  unprincipled  men  against  each  other,  and  was  for  some 
time  carried  on  in  both  kingdoms,  as  well  as  in  all  the  sur- 

O  ' 

rounding  countries.  The  pride  of  the  King  of  Spain  and  of  the 
whole  nation  had,  moreover,  been  deeply  wounded  by  the  pro 
visions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  which  secured  Gibraltar  to  Great 
Britain,  and  alienated  from  Spain  its  ancient  and  valuable  posses 
sions  in  Italy  and  Sicily ;  and  the  establishments  of  the  French 
in  Louisiana  were,  probably,  additional  causes  of  irritation.  The 


1719.]  WAR    BETWEEN    SPAIN    AND    FRANCE.  337 

• 

Catholic  monarch,  a  man  utterly  without  head  or  heart,  was  then 
ruled  by  his  imperious  queen,  Elizabeth  of  Parma,  and  his  wildly 
ambitious  minister  Cardinal  Alberoni;  and  he  was  thus  led,  imme 
diately  after  the  death  of  Louis  XIV.,  to  attempt  the  recovery  of 
the  lost  dominions  by  arms,  for  which  purpose,  large  forces,  mili 
tary  and  naval,  were  prepared  as  secretly  as  possible,  and  under 
various  pretences.  But  the  shrewd  Regent  was  acquainted  with 
every  movement,  and  penetrated  every  motive,  of  his  rival;  and 
he  made  use  of  his  information,  to  awaken  the  jealousies  of  the 
sovereigns  of  England  and  Germany,  and  to  secure  their  alliance 
in  maintaining  the  existing  state  of  things  :  so  that  when  a  Span 
ish  fleet,  bearing  a  large  army,  appeared  on  the  coast  of  Sicily  in 
the  summer  of  1718,  it  was  met  and  completely  destroyed  by  a 
British  force  under  Admiral  Byng. 

This  disaster  served  only  to  render  the  pretensions  of  Philip 
V.  and  his  councillors  more  extravagant ;  and  their  next  meas 
ure  was  the  famous  conspiracy,  concocted  by  the  Spanish  am 
bassador  Cellamar,  in  the  capital  of  France,  for  seizing  and  con 
fining  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  placing  the  King  of  Spain  in  his 
stead  as  Regent,  the  failure  of  which  covered  all  concerned  in  it, 
with  ridicule  and  disgrace.  A  treaty  of  alliance  had,  meanwhile, 
been  concluded  between  France,  England  and  Germany,  to  which 
the  King  of  Spain  was  required  to  adhere;  and  upon  his  refusal, 
war  was  declared  against  him,  by  those  powers,  in  January,  1719. 

In  this  war  the  Spaniards  were  uniformly  unsuccessful  in  Eu 
rope.  At  home,  their  northern  provinces  were  overrun  by  the 
French,  while  the  British  fleets  ravaged  their  coasts,  and  de 
stroyed  their  naval  arsenals.  In  Italy  and  Sicily,  their  armies 
were  defeated  by  the  Imperialists  ;  and  on  the  ocean,  the  ships 
and  forces  sent  from  Cadiz,  in  aid  of  the  pretender  to  the  crown 
of  England,  were  all  sunl^  or  taken. 

In  America  fortune  was  scarcely  less  unfavorable  to  the  Span 
ish  arms.  The  news  of  the  war  was  brought  to  Mobile  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1719,  by  M.  de  Serigny,  the  brother  of  Bienville,  who  had 
been  sent  out,  to  survey  the  coasts  about  the  mouth  of  the  Mis 
sissippi;  and  it  was  determined,  that  an  attack  should  be  made 
on  Pensacola,  as  soon  as  possible.  For  this  purpose,  six  hundred 
French,  and  an  equal  number  of  Indians  were  collected,  of  whom 
a  portion  were  embarked  in  three  vessels  under  Serigny,  while 
43 


338  PENSACOLA    TAKEN    BY    THE    FRENCH.  [1719. 

• 

the  others  were  to  march  over  land.  These  preparations  con 
sumed  much  time  ;  fortunately,  however,  for  the  French,  the 
Spaniards  remained  in  ignorance  of  the  rupture  of  the  peace; 
and  no  apprehensions  were  excited  at  Pensacola,  by  the  appear 
ance  of  Serigny's  vessels  off  the  entrance  of  the  bay,  until  he 
had  landed  a  party  of  his  men  on  Siguenza  Point,  the  western  ex-  • 
tremity  of  Santa  Rosa  island,  and  captured  the  small  post  estab 
lished  there.  The  town  of  Pensacola  then  consisted  of  a  few 
huts  on  the  margin  of  the  bay,  near  the  spot  at  present  occupied 
by  the  navy  yard,  due  north  of  Siguenza  Point;  the  castle  of  San 
Carlos  stood  about  one  mile  farther  west,  and  nearer  to  the  Gulf, 
where  the  abandoned  fort  of  the  Barrancas  is  now  situated.  Ere 
any  attempt  could  be  made  to  place  the  castle  in  a  defensible 
condition,  the  French  ships  entered  the  bay,  and  took  their  po 
sitions  in  front  of  it ;  while  Bienville  at  the  same  time,  displayed 
his  forces  on  the  unoccupied  heights  in  the  rear.  The  vessels 
then  begun  a  fire  on  the  castle,  which,  however,  seems  to  have 
produced  no  damage  :  upon  its  cessation,  the  Spanish  Governor 
Matamoros,  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  Serigny,  to  inquire  the  cause 
of  these  hostile  proceedings ;  and  being  thus,  for  the  first  time, 
made  acquainted  with  the  existence  of  the  war,  as  he  had  no  ade 
quate  means  of  defence,  he  proposed  to  surrender,  on  condition 
that  he  and  all  his  officers  and  men  should  be  sent  to  Havanna. 
The  terms  were  accepted,  and  on  the  14th  of  May,  the  French 
took  possession  of  the  castle,  of  which  Chateaugue  was  placed  in 
command;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  following  month,  the  prison 
ers,  in  number  one  hundred  and  sixty,  were  embarked  in  two 
French  vessels  bound  for  Europe,  which  were  to  leave  them  on 
the  way,  at  Havanna,  agreeably  to  the  capitulation. 

Meanwhile,  the  news  of  the  war  had  reached  Havanna,  where 
the  Captain  General  Don  Gregorio  Guazo  being  anxious  to  strike 
a  blow  at  the  English,  assembled  a  number  of  vessels  and  troops, 
for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  settlements^ of  that  nation  in 
the  Bahama  Islands,  and  ajso,  if  possible,  on  the  coast  of  Caro 
lina.  This  armament  left  the  port,  in  the  beginning  of  July,  un 
der  the  command  of  Don  Alfonso  Carascosa,  and  soon  after  fell 
in  with  the  two  French  vessels,  which  were  on  their  way  to  Ha 
vanna  with  the  prisoners  taken  at  Pensacola.  The  Spanish 
commander,  on  learning  the  facts,  seized  both  the  vessels,  and 


1719.]  PENSACOLA    RETAKEN    BY    THE    SPANIARDS.  339 

returned  with  them  to  Havanna,  where  it  was  resolved,  that  the 
forces  should  be  immediately  directed  to  the  recapture  of  Pensa- 
cola.  The  French  were  in  consequence  retained  as  prisoners  in 
Cuba,  and  their  vessels  were  added  to  the  squadron,  which  de 
parted  on  its  new  enterprise  in  a  few  days ;  while  information  of 
what  had  occurred,  was  transmitted  to  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico, 
writh  an  earnest  request  for  reinforcements,  in  order  to  secure  the 
execution  of  the  important  objects  in  view. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  the  Spanish  squadron,  having  obtained 
information  at  St.  Joseph's  Bay,  as  to  the  state  of  the  fort  and 
garrison  of  Pensacola,  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  that  harbor, 
where  a  hundred  men  were  immediately  landed  r;n  Siguenza 
Point,  and  s-everal  vessels  were  towed  into  the  bjty.  The  ap 
pearance  of  this  force,  was  entirely  unexpected  by  the  French, 
who  had  taken  no  pains  to  secure  their  conquest  The  garrison 
was  small,  and  composed  principally  of  vagabonds  recently 
brought  from  Europe,  the  greater  part  of  whom  soon  refused  to 
obey ;  and  the  only  vessels  in  the  harbor  were  two  small  schoon 
ers,  one  of  which  was  boarded  and  taken  by  the  Spaniards,  the 
other  being  deserted  and  burnt  by  her  crew.  In  the  course  of  the 
following  night,  the  castle  was  completely  invested  by  the  assail 
ants,  and  Chateaugue  having  no  hopes  of  relief  from  Mobile, 
found  himself  obliged  to  surrender  on  the  first  summons.  A 
number  of  his  men  immediately  entered  the  service  of  the  con 
querors,  while  he  with  the  remainder  of  the  troops  and  the  officers 
were  sent  as  prisoners  to  Havanna. 

In  order  to  follow  up  this  success,  Carascosa,  detatched  a 
portion  of  his  squadron,  with  a  number  of  soldiers,  among 
whom  were  many  of  the  French  deserters,  under  Don  Antonio 
Mendieta,  against  the  French  establishments  on  Mobile  bay. 
They  arrived  on  the  13th,  before  Dauphine  island,  and  Mendieta 
immediately  sent  a  summons  to  the  Commandant  Serigny,  to  sur 
render  under  pain  of  death,  if  he  should  resist,  not  only  to  him 
self  and  his  whole  garrison,  but  also  to  his  brother  Chateaugue 
and  the  remainder  of  the  prisoners  in  Havanna.  To  this  inso 
lent  and  barbarous  message,  Serigny  returned  a  haughty  and  con 
temptuous  answer;  and  he  prepared  to  defend  the  island  as  well 
as  he  could,  with  his  force  of  two  hundred  Frenchmen  and  some 
Indians,  to  which  he  could  expect  no  addition  from  Mobile. 


II 


840     RECAPTURE  OF  PENSACOLA  BY  THE  FRENCH.   [1719. 

The  Spaniards,  however,  did  not  disturb  him  for  several  days, 
during  which  they  held  complete  possession  of  the  bay,  the  only 
French  vessel  of  any  size  being  at  that  time  stranded  near  the 
shore  of  Dauphine  island  ;  nor  did  they  effect  any  other  damage 
than  the  capture  of  a  few  boats,  and  the  plunder  of  a  plantation 
near  the  west  side  of  the  bay,  on  which  latter  occasion,  they  lost. 
a  number  of  men,  for  the  most  part  French  deserters.  At  length, 
on  the  19th,  having  received  large  additions  to  his  forces,  Men- 
dieta  endeavored  to  destroy  the  stranded  vessel,  and  to  carry  one 
of  the  forts  on  the  island:  but  he  was  in  each  case  repulsed;  and 
Serigny  being  in  the  meantime  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of 
some  Canadians  and  Indians  from  the  interior,  the  Spaniards 
abandoned  their  enterprise  on  the  26th,  and  returned  to  Pensacola. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  Serigny  and  his  garrison  at  Dauphine 
island,  were  again  alarmed  by  the  appearance  of  several  large 
ships  under  sail  towards  the  bay :  but  to  their  surprise  and  joy, 
they  soon  descried  the  flags  and  private  signals  of  their  country 
on  the  masts,  and  before  night,  four  French  frigates  of  the  largest 
class,  with  a  store-ship,  were  anchored  in  the  adjoining  roads. 
One  of  the  frigates  with  the  store-ship  had  been  sent  from  France 
by  the  company,  and  agreeably  to  orders  carried  by  them  from 
the  government,  they  were  joined  at  St.  Domingo  by  the  other 
ships  under  the  command  of  the  Marquis  de  Champmeslin. 

The  French  having  been  thus  restored  to  their  superiority,  it  was 
immediately  agreed  between  Champmeslin  and  Bienville,  that  no 
time  should  be  lost  before  retaking  Pensacola.  The  ships  under 
the  Marquis  accordingly  sailed  for  that  place  on  the  14th ;  Bienville, 
as  on  the  former  occasion,  marching  thither  from  the  Bay  of  Mo 
bile  with  his  soldiers,  and  a  large  body  of  Indians  under  St.  Denis. 
The  Spaniards  had  made  considerable  additions  to  their  fortifi 
cations  at  Pensacola,  especially  by  the  erection  of  a  battery  on 
Siguenza  point  which  if  properly  served,  might  have  proved  very 
efficient,  in  preventing  the  entry  of  the  French  ships  into  the 
bay;  and  they  had  several  armed  vessels  lying  in  order  near  the 
castle.  Champmeslin,  however,  soon  silenced  the  battery,  and 
entered  the  bay,  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  September, 
whilst  Bienville  established  himself,  with  his  artillery,  on  the  sand 
hills  overlooking  the  castle  ;  and  the  fire  was  begun  on  both  sides. 
After  some  time,  the  Spanish  vessels  were  abandoned  by  their 


1719.]        EXPULSION  OF  THE    SPANIARDS   FROM   ADAYES.  341 

crews,  who  fled  to  the  land,  and  the  Commandant  Carascosa, 
considering  his  force  inadequate  to  a  longer  defence,  surrendered 
at  discretion.  He  was  treated  with  courtesy  by  Champmeslin; 
but  Matamoros  was  severely  rebuked  and  kept  in  confinement  for 
his  treachery,  and  his  tyrannical  conduct  towards  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  vessels,  which  carried  him  to  Havanna.  Forty-seven 
of  the  French  deserters  were  found  among  the  prisoners,  of  whom 
twelve  were  immediately  hanged,  the  others  being  condemned  to 
forced  labor  for  life.  Of  the  Spaniards,  three  hundred  were, 
without  delay,  sent  to  Cuba,  and  there  exchanged  for  Cha- 
teaugue  and  his  companions ;  the  others  were  carried  by  Champ 
meslin  to  France,  on  his  return  in  the  following  month. 

On  the  Red  river  meanwhile,  M.  Blondel  the  Commandant  of 
the  fort  at  Natchitoches,  so  soon  as  he  received  news  of  the  de 
claration  of  war,  collected  all  his  forces,  and  with  the  aid  of  the 
surrounding  Indians,  he  expelled  the  Spaniards  from  their  forts  and 
missions  north  of  the  Trinity  in  June,  1719.  Upon  his  death, 
wrhich  occurred  in  the  autumn  of  the  following  year,  1720,  M. 
Renaud  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  post,  and  St. 
Denis  was  at  the  same  time  despatched  thither,  with  instructions 
to  organize  an  expedition  of  French  and  Indians  against  the  north 
ern  provinces  of  Mexico.  The  results  of  this  expedition  will  be 
related  hereafter. 

So  certain  had  the  Spaniards  in  Cuba  and  Mexico  been  of  the 
success  of  Carascosa's  expedition,  that  several  vessels  from  Ha 
vanna  and  Vera  Cruz  entered  the  harbor  of  Pensacola  without 
suspicion,  and  were  there  seized  by  the  French.  One  of  these 
vessels  brought  information  that  a  large  Spanish  squadron  was 
about  to  be  despatched  from  Havanna,  for  the  capture  of  all  the 
French  settlements  on  the  Gulf;  and  Bienville  was  thus  kept  on 
the  alert  until  the  arrival  of  several  ships  of  war  under  M.  de 
Saujon  in  February,  1720,  relieved  him  from  all  apprehensions. 
Other  ships  of  war  came  in  succession  to  Louisiana,  in  the  course 
of  the  summer,  among  which  were  the  Toulouse  and  the  Henri, 
commanded  by  M.  de  Vallette  Laudun,  bringing  a  large  amount 
of  supplies  and  ammunition  from  Toulon.  In  one  of  these  ves 
sels  moreover,  came  the  Jesuit  Father  Laval,  commissioned  to 
ascertain  the  geographical  positions  of  the  principal  points  on  the 
coast,  for  which  purpose  he  set  up  an  observatory  on  Dauphine 


342  LAVAL'S  OBSERVATIONS  OF  LONGITUDE.          [1720. 

Island  ;  but  his  instruments  were  so  defective,  and  he  was  so 
much  occupied  by  his  duties,  as  a  priest,  to  the  sick,  that  his  re 
sults  when  published,  were  soon  proved  to  be  all  extravagantly 
erroneous.* 

In  the  same  year,  1720,  a  small  body  of  Spaniards  composed 
chiefly  of  cavalry,  with  several  priests,  arrived  near  the  junction 
of  the  Kansas  river  with  the  Mississippi,  where  they  were  attacked 
by  the  Otoctata  or  Otto  and  the  Pani  Indians,  and  were  almost  all 
destroyed.!  Such  at  least  was  the  account  given  to  M.  de  Bois- 
briant,  the  French  Commandant  of  the  Illinois,  by  some  Indians, 

*  The  Journal  and  observations  of  Father  Laval  were  published  at  Paris  in 
1728,  in  a  quarto  volume,  entitled  "Voyage  de  la  Louisiane."  He  had  however 
already  in  1723,  published  the  results,  according  to  which,  New  Orleans  was 
placed  103  degrees  west  of  Paris — nearly  eleven  degrees  beyond  the  longitude 
assigned  to  the  same  place,  by  Delisle  in  his  map  of  America,  in  the  preceding 
year.  This  brought  forth  a  memoir  by  Delisle,  in  defence  of  his  view,  read  be 
fore  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  and  published  in  its  Collection  in  1726, 
which  diminished  the  confidence  in  the  observations  of  the  Jesuit.  The  question 
however  remained  open  between  the  two  philosophers  until  1729,  when  it  was 
decided  in  favor  of  Delisle,  by  observations  of  a  total  eclipse  of  the  moon  on  the 
8th  of  August,  made  simultaneously  at  Paris  by  Cassini,  and  at  New  Orleans  by 
Baron,  an  astronomer  sent  thither  for  those  objects ;  agreeably  to  which,  New 
Orleans  was  92  degrees  16  minutes  west  of  Paris,  equivalent  to  89  degrees  5U 
minutes  west  of  Greenwich — only  19  minutes  east  of  its  true  position. 

f  Of  this  expedition  of  the  Spaniards,  La  Harpe  says  in  his  Journal : 

"  1721,  April  24 — A  letter  was  received  from  M.  de  Boisbriant,  Commandant 
of  the  Illinois,  who  stated — that  the  Spaniards,  in  number  three  hundred,  had 
set  out  from  Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  New  Mexico,  near  the  36th  degree  of  north 
latitude,  with  the  design  of  occupying  the  territory  of  this  colony,  whilst  their 
fleet  should  take  possession  of  the  coasts ;  that  of  these  three  hundred  men,  only 
seventy  had  persevered  in  the  enterprise ;  and  passing  through  various  savage 
nations,  under  the  guidance  of  some  Padoucas,  instead  of  taking  a  direction  east 
one-quarter  north-east,  they  had  been  led  too  far  towards  the  north,  so  that  they 
came  on  the  banks  of  the  Kansas,  near  the  Missouri,  where  they  were  met  by 
the  Otoctata  and  Panimaha  nations,  and  had  been  all  killed,  with  the  exception 
of  a  single  priest,  who  escaped  on  horseback.  M.  de  Boisbriant  added  that  some 
French  traders  had  obtained  from  those  savages  some  pieces  of  silver,  which 
had  been  melted,  and  appeared  to  have  been  reduced  from  ores  discovered  by 
the  Spaniards  on  their  way." 

Charlevoix  on  his  way  through  the  Illinois  in  1721,  saw  the  robes  of  another 
Spanish  priest,  who  had  been  killed  ;  and  he  purchased  from  an  Indian,  a  pistol 
which  had  belonged  to  him.  He  endeavored  also  to  obtain  the  holy  ointment, 
in  the  possession  of  the  same  Indian,  who  however  would  not  part  With  it,  as  he 
believed  it  to  be  an  effectual  remedy  against  all  diseases.  The  fact  of  the  ex 
pedition,  is  confirmed  by  Du  Pratz,  Dumont,  and  all  the  other  historians  and 
travellers  of  that  period,  so  that  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  doubt  it. 


1720.]  SPANISH    EXPEDITION    AGAINST    ILLINOIS.  343 

who  confirmed  it,  by  the  exhibition  of  articles  of  clothing,  arms, 
books  and  sacred  utensils,  all  evidently  Spanish,  and  said  to  have 
been  taken  from  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  Of  the  truth  of  this  ac 
count,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  grounds  for  doubt;  the  ex 
pedition  appears  to  have  been  made  from  New  Mexico,  and  its 
object  was  probably  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  the  Illinois, 
at  the  same  time  when  their  settlements  on  the  coast  of  the  Gulf 
should  have  been  destroyed  by  the  squadron  from  Havanna. 

No  farther  acts  of  hostility  took  place  between  the  two  nations 
in  America.  The  war  caused  very  little  if  any  interruption  of  inter 
course  between  France  and  Louisiana,  and  emigrants  from  Eu 
rope  continued  to  arrive  in  the  latter  country,  in  great  numbers,  as 
well  as  negroes  from  the  African  coast.  The  emigrants  were, 
as  before,  taken  from  the  dregs  of  the  population  of  Paris,  and 
the  sea-ports  of  France;  of  those  embarked,  a  large  propor 
tion  died  on  the  passage,  and  the  others  were  generally  attacked 
with  fevers  on  their  arrival,  pr  languished  from  want  of  food,  for 
which  the  colony  was  still,  in  a  great  measure,  dependent  on  the 
mother  country.  Nearly  all  of  those  emigrants — or  engages  as 
they  wertf  termed — had  been  sent  out  by  the  holders  of  conces 
sions,  and  those  who  survived,  were  transported  to  their  respec 
tive  places  of  destination  on  the  Mississippi,  by  way  of  Lake 
Pontchartrain.  Bienville  endeavored  to  prevail  on  the  command 
ers  of  some  of  the  vessels,  to  ascend  the  Mississippi,  which  had 
been  surveyed,  though  imperfectly  with  that  view,  and  discharge 
their  passengers  and  cargoes  at  the  site  of  the  new  capital ;  but 
he  was  unable  to  effect  this,  in  consequence  of  the  violent  oppo 
sition  to  his  plans  on  the  part  of  the  other  principal  members  of 
the  Council,  who  were  determined,  from  jealousy  or  sell-interest, 
to  prevent  the  establishment  of  the  seat  of  control  and  commerce 
of  the  colony  at  the  place  selected  by  him,  and  to  ruin  him,  if 
possible,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Regent  and  the  directors  of  the 
company.  Some  of  the  vessels  brought  only  women  as  passen 
gers,  sent  for  the  most  part  from  the  hospitals,  under  the  charge 
of  nuns  or  sisters  of  charity,  and  all  against  their  inclinations,  ex 
cept  one  who  was  honored  in  consequence,  with  the  appellation 
ofHademoiselle  de  bonne  Volonte. "  They  however  obtained  hus 
bands  immediately  on  landing,  among  the  new  colonists,  who 
rushed  to  the  houses  appointed  for  the  residence  of  the  girls,  ip 


344  PRETENDED  RUSSIAN  PRINCESS  IN  LOUISIANA.        [1720. 

such  crowds,  that  it  became  necessary  to  place  guards  around 
them,  and  in  some  cases  even  to  dispose  of  the  desired  objects  by 
lottery,  in  order  to  prevent  combats  between  the  eager  suitors.* 

Several  of  the  vessels  sent  to  Louisiana  at  this  period,  were 
lost  in  the  Mexican  Gulf,  from  want  of  knowledge  of  its  shores  and 
currents,  of  which  no  accurate  ideas  were  to  be  obtained  from  the 
charts  then  in  use.  One  of  the  company's  ships,  the  Marechal 

*  It  would  be  improper  to  omit  to  notice  the  following  curious  story,  which  is 
in  some  degree  connected  writh  the  colony  of  Louisiana  during  this  period. 

It  must  be  premised,  that  the  Czarowitz  Alexis,  eldest  son  of  Peter  the  Great 
of  Russia — (the  same  who  is  usually  supposed,  to  have  been  put  to  death  by  his 
father  in  1718) — married  in  1711,  the  Princess  Charlotte  Christina  Sophia,  daugh 
ter  to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  Wolfenbuttel ;  and  that  she,  according  to  historical 
records,  died  from  the  brutal  treatment  of  her  husband  in  November,  1715. 

Duclos  however,  in  his  curious  memoirs  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  relates,  that 
many  years  afterwards,  the  celebrated  Marshal  Saxe  met  a  lady  in  the  garden 
of  the  Thuilleries  at  Paris,  whom  he  recognized  as  the  princess  supposed  to  have 
thus  died  in  1715;  and  who  on  being  questioned  by  him,  admitted  herself  to  be 
that  person.  According  to  her  statement,  she  had  been,  while  pregnant,  cruelly 
beaten  by  the  Czarowitz  ;  and  having  been  then  delivered  of  a  dead  child,  she 
prevailed  on  the  Countess  of  Konigsmarck,  the  mother  of  Marshal  Saxe,  who 
was  her  confidential  attendant,  to  spread  the  report  of  her  decease,  and  to  aid 
her  in  quitting  a  country,  where  she  could  no  longer  remain  in  safety.'  The  plan 
adopted  for  this  purpose  succeeded  completely ;  a  figure  was  buried  in  her  place, 
and  she  reached  Paris,  from  which  she  embarked  for  Louisiana  in  company  with 
an  old  servant  passing  for  her  father.  There  she  was  recognized  by  a  young 
officer  named  D'Aubant,  who  had  seen  her  in  Russia,  and  a  mutual  attachment 
having  arisen  between  them,  they  were,  after  the  death  of  the  Czarowitz,  united 
in  marriage.  Since  that  period  she  had  remained  in  Louisiana  in  perfect  happi 
ness,  until  the  ill  health  of  her  husband  recently  obliged  them  to  return  to  France ; 
and  he  had  obtained  a  situation  in  the  Isle  of  Bourbon,  for  which  they  were  about 
to  take  their  departure. 

Marshal  Saxe,  it  seems,  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of  this  narrative  ;  and  the 
lady  having  entreated  him  not  to  reveal  it,  he  employed  his  influence  to  procure 
advantages  for  her  and  her  husband  in  the  Isle  of  Bourbon,  where  they  remained 
until  the  death  of  D'Aubant  in  1747.  The  lady  being  then  aged  and  childless, 
returned  to  France  and  established  herself  at  Vitry,  where  she  was  residing, 
under  the  name  of  Madame  de  Moldack,  and  had  been  seen  by  Duclos  in  1768, 
only  three  years  before  the  date  of  his  account. 

This  strange  story  excited  much  attention  in  Europe  at  the  time  of  its  publica 
tion,  and  it  is  said  to  have  drawn  from  the  Russian  Government  a  formal  denial 
of  the  truth  of  the  principal  statement.  Nothing  has  been  found  in  confirmation 
or  in  disproof  of  it,  in  any  document  relating  to  Louisiana;  though  it  is  certain, 
that  a  M.  and  Madame  D'Aubant  did  reside  for  some  time  at  the  Isle  of  Bourbon. 
The  neroine  is  now  generally  supposed  to  have  been  an  ingenious  impostor,  who 
made  use  of  some  resemblance  to  the  deceased  princess,  to  extract  money  or  ad 
vancement  for  her  husband,  from  Marshal  Saxe. 


1720.] 


VOYAGE  OF  BERANGER  TO  THE  WEST  COAST. 


345 


d'Estrees,  while  on  her  way  to  Mobile  in  the  summer  of  1719,  with 
a  hundred  and  fifty  galley  slaves,  ran  aground  on  the  west  coast 
of  the  Gulf  near  the  29th  degree  of  latitude — probably  on 
Galveston  island — and  was,  with  great  difficulty  prevented  from 
filling  to  pieces.  She  was  in  the  end  got  off,  and  reached  St. 
Domingo  in  safety ;  but  five  officers  who  were  on  board,  having 
been  induced,  from  the  accounts  or  signs  of  some  Indians,  to  be 
lieve  that  there  was  a  settlement  of  their  countrymen  at  a  short 
distance  in  the  interior,  quitted  the  vessel  with  a  small  stock  of 
provisions,  and  set  off  under  the  guidance  of  the  savages,  in 
search  of  the  place.  Of  these  persons,  nothing  was  heard  until 
1721,  when  one  of  them,  M.  de  Belle-isle,  was  brought  to  Natchi- 
toches,  in  a  most  wretched  condition,  by  a  party  of  Cenis,  who 
had  rescued  him  from  captivity  among  the  natives  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Trinity  ;  the  others  had  all  perished,  from  disease  or  hun 
ger  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  coast.* 

On  the  arrival  in  Europe  of  the  news  of  this  accident  to  the 
Marechal  d'Estrees,  orders  were  immediately  sent  to  the  Governor 
of  Louisiana,  to  found  a  fort  and  trading  factory  on  the  west  coast 
of  the  Gulf;  and  Bienville,  as  a  semblance  of  compliance,  des 
patched  Lieutenant  Beranger,  in  August,  1720,  with  a  small 
schooner  and  a  few  men,  in  search  of  a  proper  position  for  such 
establishments.  This  officer,  however,  contented  himself  with  a 
cursory  examination  of  an  inlet  situated,  according  to  his  obser 
vations,  in  latitude  of  27  degrees  45  minutes,  and  communicating 
with  a  bay,  which  he  did  not  enter,  but  which  he  supposed  to  be 
that  of  St.  Louis  or  San  Bernardo.  On  the  shore  of  this  inlet, 
which  was  most  probably  the  same  now  called  Copano  or  Corpus 
Christi,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Nueces,  Beranger  left  a  ser 
geant  and  three  men — -for  what  object  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine — 
and  then  returned  to  Biloxy,  to  report  the  results  of  his  expedi 
tion  to  the  Governor.  No  farther  measures  were,  however,  taken 
at  that  time  in  fulfilment  of  the  orders  of  the  directory,  nor  was 
any  thing  learned  of  the  men  left  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Gulf, 

*  M.  de  Belle-isle  lived  to  an  advanced  age  in  Louisiana,  and  his  adventures 
on  this  occasion,  may  be  found  related  in  every  account  of  that  country,  written 
during  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  These  accounts  contain  nothing  of  im 
portance  ;  and  indeed  they  differ  from  each  other  in  all  points,  becoming  more 
marvellous  as  the  narrator  advanced  in  life. 

44 


346  TRUCE    BETWEEN    THE    ALLIES    AND    SPAIN.  [1719. 

who  were  supposed,  according  to  La  Harpe,  "  to  have  been 
eaten  by  savages." 

The  war  in  Europe  had  been  meanwhile  arrested  by  a  truce 
between  the  King  of  Spain,  and  the  Allies  in  January,  1720; 
which  being  followed  by  the  disgrace  and  expulsion  of  Cardinal 
Alberoni,  the  originator  of  all  the  difficulties,  Philip  V.  acceded 
to  the  conditions  of  the  alliance.  The  Regent  of  France  then 
exerted  himself  to  restore  the  good  understanding  between  his 
court  and  that  of  Spain,  which  he  succeeded  in  effecting,  as 
the  improved  health  of  the  young  Louis  XV.  daily  diminished 
the  probability  of  any  contest  for  the  throne  of  France  ;  and  ne 
gotiations  were  begun  at  Madrid,  for  a  general  peace  by  conces 
sions  on  all  sides.  The  parties,  nevertheless,  maintained  their 
hostile  attitudes;  and  Pensacola  continued  in  the  possession  of 
the  French  for  more  than  two  years  longer. 

Although  Great  Britain  and  France  were  united  in  this  war 
against  Spain,  their  relations  thus  apparently  amicable,  rested  on 
an  insecure  basis  ;  and  were  daily  endangered  by  the  mutual 
jealousy  and  distrust  of  the  parties,  especially  with  regard  to 
movements  in  America.  The  treaty  of  Utrecht  had,  as  already 
shewn,  left  several  grave  questions  relating  to  that  part  of  the 
world,  to  be  settled  by  Commissaries;  including  those  of  the  extent 
and  limits  of  the .  territory  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  of  Acadie  or 
Nova  Scotia,  which  had  been  assigned  to  Great  Britain,  as  also 
of  the  line  of  separation  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  countries  be 
longing  to  the  same  nation,  and  the  French  possessions  farther 
south.  These  stipulations  were  made  in  1713,  and  were  to  have 
been  executed  according  to  their  terms,  within  a  year;  but  in  con 
sequence  of  the  desire  or  necessity  on  the  part  of  both  nations,  to 
remain  at  peace,  after  the  deaths  of  Queen  Anne  and  Louis  XIV., 
no  measures  were  taken  for  the  purpose  until  1719.  At  that  time 
much  uneasiness  was  excited  in  England  and  English  America, 
by  the  proceedings  of  the  Mississippi  Company  in  Louisiana,  and 
by  the  persistance  of  the  French,  in  holding  large  portions  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  of  the  country  south  of  Lake  Ontario,  in  wThich  they 
were  making  fortifications  and  other  establishments  contrary  to 
the  treaty:  and  the  French  were  no  less  alarmed,  by  the  active 
advances  of  the  people  of  New  England,  in  the  occupation  of  the 
countries  east  of  the  Kennebeck.  In  these  last  named  countries, 


1719.]    TENTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  UTRECHT  TREATY.       347 

both  parties  were  indeed  exerting  themselves  to  the  utmost ;  and 
when,  in  the  beginning  of  1719,  it  became  probable  that  the  Eng 
lish  would  prevail,  the  Court  of  France  signified  to  the  other  party 
its  desire,  to  have  the  questions  of  right  which  had  been  reserved 
by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  settled  in  the  manner  provided  by  that 
agreement.* 

The  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations  of  Great  Britain,  to  which 
this  proposition  was  submitted,  was  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the 
course  to  be  pursued:  some  of  its  members  considering,  that  the 
opportunity  should  be  seized,  to  establish  clearly  and  definitively, 
the  whole  line  of  separation  between  the  dominions  of  the  two 
nations  in  America;  while  others  regarded  it  as  more  politic,  to 
leave  those  questions  in  their  actual  state  of  uncertainty,  but  at 
the  same  time  to  advance  the  frontier  posts  and  colonies  as  far 
and  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  charters  and  all  other  evidences 
of  possession  were  studied ;  and  persons  supposed  to  be  well  ac 
quainted  with  those  subjects  were  examined,  including  Dr.  Coxe 
the  claimant  of  Carolana,  who  was  strenuous  in  his  opinion,  that 

*  The  words  of  this  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  are  as  follows  : 
"  X. — That  the  said  most  Christian  King  shall  restore  to  the  kingdom  and 
Queen  of  Great  Britain,  to  be  possessed  in  full  right  for  ever,  the  Bay  and  Straits 
of  Hudson,  together  with  all  lands,  seas,  sea  coasts,  rivers  and  places  situate  in 
the  said  Bay  and  Straits,  and  which  belong  thereunto,  no  tracts  of  land  or  sea 
being  excepted  which  are  at  present  possessed  by  the  subjects  of  France.  All 
which,  as  well  as  any  buildings  there  made,  in  the  condition  they  now  are,  and 
likewise  all  fortresses  there  erected,  either  before  or  since  the  French  seized  the 
same,  shall  within  six  months  from  the  ratification  of  the  present  Treaty,  or 
sooner  if  possible,  be  well  and  truly  delivered  to  the  British  subjects,  having 
commission  from  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  to  demand  and  receive  the  same, 
entire  and  undemolished,  together  with  all  the  cannon  and  cannon  ball  which  are 
therein,  as  also  with  a  quantity  of  powder,  if  it  be  there  found,  in  proportion  to 
the  cannon  ball,  and  with  the  other  provision  of  war  usually  belonging  to  cannon. 
It  is  however  provided,  that  it  may  be  entirely  free  for  the  Company  of  Quebec, 
and  all  other  the  subjects  of  the  most  Christian  King  whatsoever,  to  go  by  land 
or  by  sea,  whithersoever  they  please  out  of  the  lands  of  the  said  bay,  together 
with  all  their  goods,  merchandises,  arms  and  effects  of  what  nature  or  condition 
soever,  except  such  things  as  are  above  reserved  in  this  article.  But  it  is  agreed 
on  both  sides,  to  determine  within  a  year,  by  commissaries  to  be  forthwith  named 
by  each  party,  the  limits  which  are  to  be  fixed  between  the  said  Bay  of  Hudson 
and  the  places  appertaining  to  the  French ;  which  limits  both  the  British  and 
French  subjects  shall  be  wholly  forbid  to  pass  over,  or  thereby  to  go  to  each 
other  by  sea  or  by  land.  The  same  commissaries  shall  also  have  orders  to  de 
scribe  and  settle  in  like  manner,  the  boundaries  between  the  other  British  and 
French  colonies  in  those  parts." 


348  APPOINTMENT    OF    COMMISSARIES.  [1719. 

the  Government  should  insist  on  the  Mississippi  as  the  western 
boundary  of  the  British  possessions.  The  Board  however,  became 
convinced,  that  nothing  conclusive  could  be  drawn  from  any  of 
these  authorities,  except  with  regard  to  Acadie  and  the  Hudson's 
Bay  territories,  on  which  the  charter  of  James  I.  to  Alexander, 
and  of  Charles  II.  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  were  consider 
ed  as  incontestable  proofs  of  right.  The  appointment  of  Com 
missaries  was  recommended ;  but  they  were  to  be  instructed  to 
confine  themselves  to  the  limits  of  the  two  countries  last  men 
tioned,  and  to  insist  on  the  acknowledgment  of  the  title  of 
Great  Britain  to  those  divisions  of  America,  in  their  fullest  ex 
tent,  as  well  as  to  the  exclusive  fishery  on  the  banks  and  coasts 
of  Newfoundland  :  though  in  order  to  prevent  their  silence  on 
other  points  from  being  interpreted  as  an  admission  of  the  French 
pretensions,  they  were  to  complain  of  encroachments  in  the  re 
gions  of  the  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  whilst  declaring  that  they 
could  not  enter  into  the  discussion  of  those  boundaries,  until 
reports  had  been  received  from  the  Governors  of  the  provinces 
interested.* 

The  proposition  of  the  French  Government  having  been  ac 
cepted,  Commissaries  were  appointed  by  each  party:  those  of 
Great  Britain  were  Colonel  Martin  Bladen  and  Mr.  Daniel  Pul- 
teney,  both  members  of  Parliament  and  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
Plantations,  under  the  instructions  of  which  they  were  to  act;  the 
French  Commissaries  were  the  Marech'al  d'Estrees  and  the  Abbe 
Dubois,  (soon  after  made  Cardinal,)  both  members  of  the  Regent's 
Council.  They  met  at  Paris  in  the  winter  of  1719-20;  but  diffi 
culties  presented  themselves  at  the  outset,  in  consequence  of  the 
demand  made  by  the  French  Government,  for  the  withdrawal  of 
the  people  of  New  England,  who  had  established  themselves  in 
Nova  Scotia,  until  the  negotiations  should  have  been  concluded: 
the  Court  of  Great  Britain  replied  by  a  similar  demand,  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  same  country  by  the  French  ;  and  neither  being 
willing  to  yield,  all  attempts  at  a  settlement  of  boundaries  in  that 
quarter,  were  abandoned.  With  regard  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 

*  This  account  of  the  deliberations  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  is 
derived  from  manuscript  copies  of  the  minutes  of  that  body  on  the  subject,  made 
by  George  Chalmers,  the  author  of  the  "  Political  Annals  of  the  American  Colo 
nies,"  and  now  in  the  possession  of  Peter  Force,  Esq.  of  Washington. 


1720.]  PROPOSED  EXCHANGE  OF  GIBRALTAR  FOR  FLORIDA.   349 

territories,  it  is  most  probable,  if  not  absolutely  certain,  that  the 
discussions  of  the  Commissaries  were  equally  ineffectual;  although 
several  lines,  differing  entirely  in  course,  were  afterwards  repre 
sented  on  English  maps,  each  purporting  to  be  the  boundary  de 
termined  on  this  occasion. 

These  differences  between  England  and  France  were  not  suffi 
cient  to  counterbalance  the  desire  on  the  parts  of  both  Govern 
ments,  to  re-establish  peace  and  maintain  it  on  a  firm  foundation; 
and  it  was  agreed,  that  a  general  Congress  of  representatives  of 
the  great  powers  of  Europe  should  be  convened  as  soon  as  pos 
sible,  for  the  arrangement  of  all  their  disputes,  with  which  object, 
exertions  were  made  to  obtain  from  each  nation  its  engagement 
to  submit  to  what  might  be  thus  determined.  Such  assurances 
were  given  by  all  the  powrers  except  Spain,  in  the  course  of  the 
year  1720,  and  Cambray  in  French  Flanders,  was  appointed  as 
the  place  of  meeting  of  the  Congress.  The  Courts  of  France  and 
Spain  were  in  perfect  accord  on  all  points  previously  disputed 
between  them  ;  but  the  differences  between  the  latter  nation  and 
Great  Britain  were  not  to  be  so  easily  reconciled:  the  destruction 
of  the  Spanish  fleet  by  Byng  in  1718,  had  severely  mortified  the 
pride  of  the  people,  and  Philip  V.  persisted  in  requiring  the  re 
storation  of  Gibraltar  arid  Minorca  to  his  dominion.  With  regard 
to  Gibraltar,  the  British  Government  was  at  first  determined  to 
yield  nothing ;  but  George  I.  notwithstanding  the  opposition 
which  had  been  openly  made  by  his  Parliament,  to  the  surren 
der  of  that  fortress  on  any  terms,  at  length  offered  to  exchange 
it  for  Florida,  or  the  Spanish  portion  of  Hispaniola.*  To  this, 

*  With  regard  to  this  exchange  of  Gibraltar  for  Florida  or  the  Spanish  portion 
of  Hispaniola,  proposed  by  the  British  court  to  that  of  Spain,  some  curious  par 
ticulars  will  be  found  in  a  despatch,  written  by  Mr.  Stanhope,  the  British  Envoy 
at  Madrid,  to  his  Government,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1721,  which  will  be  found 
at  length  in  Coxe's  Memoirs  of  the  Bourbon  Kings  of  Spain,  chapter  31.  The 
Envoy,  in  detailing  the  obstacles  to  such  an  arrangement,  mentions  particularly 
the  objections  made  to  it  by  Don  Andres  de  Pes,  the  President  of  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  with  wrhom  he  was  on  terms  of  intimacy;  and  who  though  well  dis 
posed  to  favor  the  English  in  commerce,  and  to  maintain  a  good  understanding 
between  the  two  powers,  was  immovable  in  his  resistance  on  this  point.  "  During 
all  the  time  that  I  have  known  him,"  says  Mr.  Stanhope,  "he  has  seemed  to 
have  nothing  more  zealously  at  heart,  than  to  drive  the  French  from  their  set 
tlements  on  the  Mississippi ;  upon  this  general  principle,  that  the  suffering  of  any 
foreigners  to  establish  themselves  in  any  part  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  would 
sooner  or  later  occasion  the  loss  of  the  whole  to  Spain.  He  is  not  only  convinced 


350  NEGOTIATIONS    AT    MADRID.  [1721. 

however,  Philip  V.  positively  refused  to  consent;  being  influenced 
chiefly  by  Don  Andres  de  Pes  the  President  of  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  and  probably  also  by  the  Court  of  France,  though  the 
Abbe  Dubois,  the  Regent's  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was  in 
the  pay  of  Great  Britain  :  and  the  re-establishment  of  peace  was 
delayed  for  sometime  after  the  two  governments  had  agreed  on 
the  other  principal  matters  in  dispute. 

The  good  understanding  between  Spain  and  France  was  con 
firmed  by  a  treaty  signed  at  Madrid  on  the  27th  of  March,  1721, 
by  which  the  two  powers  bound  themselves  in  perpetual  and  strict 
alliance,  consigning  to  eternal  oblivion  all  offences  and  injuries 
committed  by  either  against  the  other  during  the  late  war,  and 
guaranteeing  mutually  all  their  dominions  wheresoever  situated,  as 
recognized  by  existing  treaties,  or  by  those  which  might  be  con 
cluded  in  a  congress  of  the  European  States  to  be  held  without 
delay  at  Cambray.  The  King  of  Spain  was  at  the  same  time  in 
duced  by  the  representations  of  the  Regent  of  France,  to  admit 
as  sufficient  grounds  for  his  assent  to  a  similar  arrangement  with 
England,  a  promise  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  for  the  restoration 
of  Gibraltar  at  some  future  period ;  and  after  some  difficulties,  as 
to  the  language  to  be  employed  in  such  an  assurance,*  a  letter 
written  by  George  I.  himself,  on  the  1st  of  June,  expressing,  in 
terms  most  equivocal,  his  readiness  to  satisfy  the  Demand  of  Spain 

that  it  is  impossible  ever  to  persuade  the  Spaniards  to  approve  of  such  a  propq- 
sal,  but  would  endeavor  to  prove  to  me,  that  we  do  not  know  what  we  ask,  in 
demanding  either  of  those  places.  He  assures  me  of  his  own  knowledge,  that 
they  would  be  a  charge  and  no  ways  profitable,  being  barren,  and  scarce  pro 
ductive  enough  to  subsist  the  inhabitants ;  and  that  we  should  soon  be  as  tired 
of  them,  as  we  were  of  Tangier,  and  for  the  same  reasons,  as  entailing  a  con 
tinual  war  upon  the  nation,  with  the  Indians  and  Spaniards  settled  there.  That 
therefore  we  could  propose  no  other  advantages  by  them,  but  the  hopes  of  penetrating  by 
their  means  towards  the  mines,  or  of  carrying  on  a  clandestine  trade ;  either  of  which  is 
a  reason  strong  enough  to  hinder  the  Spaniards  from  ever  coming  into  such  a  project." 

The  proposition,  it  may  be  added,  was  itself  entirely  at  variance  with  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  by  which  Spain  was  bound  not  to  alienate  any 
part  of  her  American  possessions ;  and  if  accepted,  it  must  have  produced  diffi 
culties,  if  not  war,  between  Great  Britain  and  France. 

*This  curious  letter  appears  in  the  original  French,  in  the  Journal  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  for  March  21,  1728.  The  particulars  of  the  negotiation  are 
given,  with  certain  retentions,  by  Lord  Mahon,  in  the  part  of  his  History  of  Eng 
land  relative  to  the  affairs  of  1721;  yet  strangely  enough,  he  does  not  allude  in 
his  work  to  the  treaties  of  Madrid,  although,  a  Stanhope  was  the  representative 
of  England  on  the  occasion  of  their  signature. 


,  1721.]  TREATIES    OF    MADRID.  351 

respecting  the  restitution  of  Gibraltar,  so  soon  as  the  consent  of 
his  Parliament  could  be  obtained,  was  accepted  by  Philip  V., 
who  thereupon  signed  a  treaty  with  England,  resembling  that 
concluded  by  him  with  France.  A  third  treaty  was  also  signed 
on  the  same  day,  the  13th  of  June,  1721,  between  the  three  na 
tions,  binding  them  all  to  the  maintenance  of  the  stipulations  con 
tained  in  the  others,  and  constituting  a  triple 'alliance,  and  a  guar 
antee  of  all  their  possessions  in  every  part  of  the  world,  as  then 
admitted  by  treaties,  or  as  might  be  settled  at  Cambray.  In  order 
to  strengthen  the  alliance  between  Spain  and  France,  the  young 
king  of  the  latter  country,  then  eleven  years  old,  was  betrothed 
to  the  eldest  daughter  of  Philip  V.  aged  four  years  ;  and  the  heii 
of  the  Spanish  throne  was  in  like  manner  affianced  to  the  daugh 
ter  of  the  Regent  Duke.  Neither  of  the  marriages  thus  arranged 
was  effected  ;  yet  the  union  between  the  two  crowns,  though  oc 
casionally  threatened  writh  dissolution,  continued  unbroken  foi 
more  than  seventy  years. 

Whilst  these  discussions  were  in  progress,  the  French  exerted 
themselves  to  strengthen  their  positions  in  the  disputed  countries, 
by  increasing  their  fortified  posts,  a^A  their  missionary  stations 
among  the  Indians.  In  Nova  Scotia,  great  influence  was  exer 
cised  over  the  dominant  savage  nation  of  the  Abenakis,  by  the 
Jesuit  Father  Rasle,  who  was  the  especial  object  of  the  animosity 
of  the  New  England  people ;  in  the  Iroquois  regions,  M.  Joncaire 
a  Frenchman,  who  had  long  resided  among  the  Sejekas,  re 
constructed  and  occupied  the  old  fort  at  the  entrance  of  the  Nia 
gara  river  into  Lake  Ontario  ;  in  the  country  of  the  Wabash  and 
Miami,  other  posts  were  established,  by  the  Commandant  of  Fort 
Ouayatenons  (afterwards  called  Vincennes,)  in  order  to  ensure 
the  communications  between  Canada  and  the  Mississippi ;  while 
the  Governor  of  Louisiana  was  unwearied  in  his  efforts,  to 
cause  the  destruction  of  all  the  English  traders,  who  should 
venture  within  the  limits  claimed  for  his  province.  The  Gov 
ernors  of  the  English  possessions,  though  highly  exasperated 
against  the  French,  and  unscrupulous  as  to  the  means  to  be  em 
ployed  for  arresting  them,  were  much  less  active;  leaving  to  the 
people  of  the  respective  colonies,  the  task  of  repelling  encroach 
ments,  and  of  pushing  forward  their  settlements,  at  their  own 
risk  and  cost. 


352  THE    MISSISSIPPI    SCHEME    AT    ITS    HEIGHT.  [1719. 

The  Mississippi  scheme  had  ere  that  period  passed  through  all 
its  phases.  It  was  at  the  full  in  the  latter  part  of  1719,  when  the 
shares  of  the  India  Company  were  sold  at  ten,  twelve,  and  eigh 
teen  times  their  original  cost;  and  the  notes  of  the  Bank  of  France, 
though  constantly  increasing  in  number,  nevertheless  commanded 
a  considerable  advance  in  specie  upon  their  nominal  value.  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  public  had  been  then  raised  to  madness  by  the 
various  expedients  employed  to  enhance  the  value  of  the  stock  of 
the  company,  such  as  accounts  of  the  discovery  of  mines  of  pre 
cious  metals  or  stones  in  the  Mississippi  regions,  or  of  new  arti 
cles  of  necessity  or  luxury  procured  from  them,*  or  of  new  routes 
to  the  Pacific,  or  new  channels  of  trade  with  the  Spanish  provinces. 
The  Rue  de  Quincampoix  in  Paris,  where  Law's  house  and  offices 
were  first  situated,  was  crowded  day  and  night,  by  applicants  of 
both  sexes,  and  of  all  ages,  classes  and  conditions,  for  the  certifi 
cates  of  stock  in  the  India  Company,  which  would  entitle  them  to  a 
share  of  its  profits,  or  which  might  be  sold,  soon  after,  at  a  large 
advance.  On  the  abandonment  of  that  narrow  street  for  the  spa 
cious  Place  Vendome,  the  throng  increased  in  proportion  to  the 
means  of  accommodation;  smA  when  the  large  Hotel  de  Soissons 
became  the  scene  of  business,  its  gardens  were  for  some  time 
filled  with  tents,  hired  at  enormous  prices  to  the  eager  expectants. 
Princes  and  nobles  struggled  and  intrigued  for  the  favor  of  a  short 
interview  with  the  great  dispenser  of  wealth  ;  and  those  whose 
resources  were  previously  unequal  to  their  support,  in  the  most 

*  Among  the  various  means  employed  at  this  time  to  derive  revenue  from 
Louisiana,  was  the  attempt  to  introduce  the  leaves  of  the  Cassina,  or  Prinus  Gla- 
ber  of  Linnaeus,  into  Europe,  as  a  substitute  for  tea.  These  leaves,  the  produce 
of  a  small  tree,  bearing  red  berries,  called  Apalachine  by  the  French,  and  Yappoii 
by  the  English,  were  much  used  in  decoction  by  the  Indians  on  the  whole  coast 
of  America,  south  of  the  Chesapeake,  as  a  tonic  and  febrifuge;  and  they  are  uni 
versally  employed  in  the  same  way,  at  the  present  time,  in  the  lower  parts  of 
North  Carolina.  The  leaves  are  gathered  in  the  summer  and  dried,  or  rather 
parched  over  the  fire,  after  which  they  are  boiled,  and  the  decoction,  bitter  and 
somewhat  aromatic,  is  taken  hot  in  the  same  quantity  and  manner  as  tea.  A 
particular  description  of  the  plant  and  its  use,  wit^i  a  colored  engraving  of  it, 
may  be  found  in  "Catesby's  Natural  History  of  Carolina,"  vol.  2,  page  57.  Tt  is 
also  described  by  Charlevoix,  in  the  account  of  the  plants  of  Louisiana,  attached 
to  his  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France.  "It  began,"  says  the  learned  and  spir- 
ituel  Jesuit,  in  his  letters,  "to  acquire  great  reputation  at  Paris,  at  the  time  of 
my  departure  (1721 :)  but  that  was  a  bad  time  for  reputations  and  fortunes  of  all 
kinds ;  they  passed  away  as  rapidly  as  they  were  created." 


1720.]  DECLINE    OF    THE     MISSISSIPPI    SCHEME.  353 

moderate  v.ray  of  life,  having  converted  their  property  into  India 
stock,  considered  themselves  as  persons  of  fortune,  and  launched 
forth  into  extravagant  expenses.  In  vain  did  men  of  eminence  in 
financial  affairs  endeavor  to  enlighten  the  multitude,  on  the  un 
substantial  nature  of  the  project  in  which  they  were  engaged ; 
vain  were  the  pasquinades  and  caricatures,*  showered  forth  daily, 
by  those  who  had  themselves  nothing  to  venture  in  the  specula 
tion  ;  vain  was  the  protest  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  that  this 
inordinate  issue  of  paper  money  could  only  lead  the  nation  to 
bankruptcy.  The  Regent  had  means  in  abundance  for  his  own 
expenses,  and  he  could  not,  or  would  not,  see  that  the  swindling 
system  by  which  they  wrere  obtained,  must  soon  be  unmasked. 
Nearly  all  the  notes  of  the  bank  had  indeed  gone  into  circulation, 
through  the  royal  treasury,  which  made  its  payments,  amounting 
to  hundreds  of  millions  of  livres  annually,  in  that  way  only;  the 
India  Company  being  chiefly  used  as  a  means  of  drawing  in  those 
notes,  in  order  to  prevent  a  glut  of  them  in  the  country. 

In  January,  1720,  Law,  after  he  had  embraced  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith,  was  made  Comptroller  General  of  the  Finances; 
and  the  bank  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  the  India  Com 
pany,  whose  privileges  in  Louisiana  were  rendered  perpetual. 
Confidence  had  however  begun  to  decline :  the  bank  when  re 
quired  to  pay  large  amounts  in  specie,  was  unable  to  do  so;  alarm 
was  created  among  the  holders  of  notes,  and  notwithstanding  the 
innumerable  edicts  to  which  the  fecundity  of  Law's  invention 
daily  gave  birth,  in  order  to  keep  up  the  price  of  the  shares  of 
the  India  Company,  they  fell  rapidly.  By  these  edicts,  payments 
in  specie,  or  the  possession  of  specie,  beyond  a  certain  small 
amount,  by  any  individual,  were  punishable  by  confiscation  and 
fine;  and  the  same  penalties  were  afterwards  extended  to  the 
possession  of  gold  and  silver,  in  any  form.  Such  measures 
could  produce  no  other  effect  than  to  increase  the  general  mistrust, 
which  was  changed  into  consternation,  by  the  edict  of  May  21, 

*  The  greater  part  of  these  pasquinades  and  caricatures,  were  published  in 
Holland,  arid  thence  circulated  throughout  Europe.  A  volume  of  them  was  is 
sued  in  1720,  at  Amsterdam,  entitled  "  Der  groote  tafereel  der  dwarsheid" — The 
Great  Picture  of  Perversity — the  engravings  in  which,  executed  in  a  style  of  broad 
and  not  very  delicate  humor,  may  have  afforded  some  hints  to  Hogarth,  whose 
works  strongly  resemble  them.  The  pictures  of  the  scenes  in  the  Rue  Quincam- 
poix  during  the  period  of  the  excitement,  are  particularly  curious. 

45 


354  EXPLOSION    OF    THE    MISSISSIPPI    SCHEME.  [1720. 

1720,  declaring  that  the  value  of  the  bank  notes  and  India  shares, 
should  be  reduced  gradually  until  the  end  of  the  year,  when  they 
would  be  received  at  only  one-half  of  their  nominal  amount.  The 
clamors  of  the  people  and  the  remonstrances  of  the  Parliament  of 
Paris,  caused  the  immediate  revocation  of  this  act;  but  the  down 
fall  of  the  paper  system  was  not  arrested.  In  order  to  calm  the 
popular  agitation,  specie  was  restored  to  currency,  and  Law  re 
signed  the  Comptrollership  of  the  Finances  ;  yet  he  still  retained 
his  influence  over  the  Regent,  who  believing  that  the  storm  would 
pass  away,  continued  to  employ  the  expedients  suggested  by  him, 
until  it  became  indispensable  to  suppress  the  circulation  of  paper 
money  entirely.  This  was  done  by  edicts  in  October,  1720,  and 
Law  was  soon  after  obliged  to  quit  France  in  disguise,  in  order 
to  escape  the  vengeance  of  those  whom  he  had  ruined.* 

The  faith  of  the  French  Government  wras  however  pledged  for 
the  redemption  of  the  notes  of  the  bank,  at  least  for  those  which 
could  be  shown  to  have  been  given  for  a  due  consideration.  A 
commission  was  accordingly  instituted  in  January,  1721,  to  which 
the  holders  of  all  notes  were  required  to  present  them  within 
two  months  ;  the  India  Company  being  at  the  same  time  placed 
under  the  direction  of  four  other  commissioners,  who  were  to 
conduct  its  affairs,  until  a  definitive  resolution  could  be  taken 
with  regard  to  them.f  On  examination  it  appeared,  that  the 
amount  of  the  bank  notes  thrown  into  circulation  was  two  thou 
sand  seven  liundred  millions,  of  which,  more  than  one-third  had 

*Law  retreated  to  the  Netherlands,  carrying  with  him  only  one  large  diamond, 
thence  to  Denmark,  and  thence  to  England,  where  he  remained  in  poverty  and 
obscurity  four  years.  He  then  returned  to  the  Continent,  and  died  in  Venice  in 
1729,  having  during  this  last  period  of  his  life,  supported  himself  entirely  by 
gambling.  Long  was  he  remembered  in  France  as  M.  Lass ;  the  sufferers  by 
his  scheme,  usually  accompanying  the  mention  of  his  name  by — "Helas!" 
His  brother  William,  who  was  a  partner  in  the  bank,  remained  in  France  and 
took  the  name  of  Lauriston  from  his  estate  in  Scotland;  he  was  the  great-grand 
father  of  the  late  French  Marshal  Lauriston. 

f  The  Commissioners  for  the  Bank,  were  four  brothers  named  Paris,  of  whom 
the  eldest  had  been  an  inn-keeper's  assistant ;  those  for  the  regulation  of  the  af 
fairs  of  the  India  Company,  were  Messrs.  Dodun,  Ferrand,  Machault  and  Fagon. 

The  financial  talents  of  the  brothers  Paris,  and  especially  of  the  eldest,  Paris 
Duverney,  appear  to  have  been  indeed  very  great,  but  their  honesty  has  been 
doubted;  indeed,  the  whole  commission  was  most  probably  intended,  like  certain 
military  courts  of  inquiry  and  other  committees  of  investigation,  in  our  own 
times,  rather  to  screen  those  in  power  and  their  favorites  or  partisans  from  oblo 
quy,  than  to  forward  the  dispensation  of  justice  to  the  aggrieved. 


1721.]  AFFAIRS    OF    THE    BANK    WOUND     UP.  355 

been  issued  without  legal  authority,  or  in  defiance  of  express  laws, 
no  doubt  for  the  profligate  expenditures  of  the  Regent,  or  for  the 
gratification  of  his  favorites,  though  the  blame  was  made  to  rest 
wholly  on  Law.  Of  those  presented  to  the  commissioners,  a  large 
proportion  were  condemned  and  destroyed  as  having  been  unfairly 
obtained  ;  the  Regent  and  the  India  Company  gave  up  others, 
which  were  in  like  manner  cancelled,  and  when  the  investigation 
had  been  completed,  the  state  was  found  to  be  charged  with  more 
than  sixteen  hundred  millions  of  livres,  on  account  of  the  bank, 
for  the  acquittal  of  which,  certificates  of  credit,  were  delivered  to 
the  holders,  bearing  an  interest  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent.,  secured 
on  various  branches  of  the  public  revenue;  the  shares  of  the  Bank 
with  which  the  India  Company  was  to  continue  charged, amount 
ed  in  number  to  fifty-five  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-one. 
The  kingdom  had  been  relieved  from  about  one-fourth  of  its  debt, 
which  as  already  said,  amounted  to  two  thousand  millions  of  livres 
when  the  scheme  was  commenced,  although  its  expenses  had  far 
exceeded  its  income  ever  since  that  period.  The  India  Company 
was  confirmed  in  the  perpetual  possession  of  Louisiana  and  of  all 
its  other  territories  and  privileges  in  America,  Africa  and  Asia ; 
and  it  was  allowed  to  retain  the  administration  of  the  tobacco,  and 
of  some  other  branches  of  the  royal  revenues,  and  to  convert  its 
shares  into  annuities,  by  agreement  with  the  holders.* 

Such  was  the  termination  of  the  famous  Mississippi  scheme,  by 
which  vast  amounts  of  property  in  France  were  made  to  change 
their  possessors,  and  the  whole  population  were  converted  into 
gamblers.  The  confidence  of  Law  in  the  stability  of  his  system 
seems  to  be  proved  by  the  fact,  that  he  invested  all  his  own  gains 

*  "  A  valuation  was  made  of  all  the  fortunes  of  the  citizens,  an  undertaking  no 
less  extraordinary  than  the  system,  and  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  difficult 
operations  of  finance  and  justice,  ever  effected  in  any  nation.  It  was  begun  about 
the  end  of  1721.  It  was  devised,  regulated  and  conducted  by  four  brothers,  who 
had  never  before  taken  any  part  in  public  affairs,  but  who  by  their  genius  and 
their  labors,  well  deserved  to  be  trusted  with  the  fortunes  of  the  State.  They 
established  as  many  bureaus,  officers  and  judges  as  were  necessary,  and  made  ar 
rangements  by  which  order  was  brought  forth  from  chaos.  Five  hundred  and 
eleven  thousand  citizens,  mostly  fathers  of  families,  brought  their  fortunes  in 
paper  to  this  tribunal.  All  these  innumerable  debts  were  liquidated  at  about  six 
teen  hundred  and  thirty-one  millions  of  livres,  [more  than  two  hundred  and  seventy 
millions  of  dollars,]  with  which  the  State  was  charged ;  and  thus  ended  this  prodi 
gious  game  of  hazard,  at  which  a  foreigner  had  induced  a  whole  nation  to 
play."—  Voltaire's  "  Siecle  de  Louis  XV. ,"  chapter  2. 


356  RESULTS    OF    LAW'S    PROJECTS.  [1721. 

by  it  in  real  estate  in  France,  which  was,  as  he  must  have  foreseen, 
confiscated  on  his  disgrace ;  and  the  Regent  died  under  the  firm 
conviction,  that  nothing  but  the  imprudence  of  the  Parliament  of 
Paris  and  of  some  of  his  ministers,  prevented  the  entire  success 
of  the  plan.  From  France,  the  madness  of  speculation  passed 
to  the  adjacent  countries.  England  was  convulsed  in  a  similar 
manner,  by  the  South  Sea  Scheme,  which  promised  to  pay  the 
national  debt,  and  to  enrich  the  whole  people,  by  the  profits  of 
the  trade  with  Spanish  America  agreeably  to  the  Asiento  treaty 
concluded  between  the  two  nations  in  1713,  and  to  others  pro 
posed,  but  never  completed.  The  sober  Hollanders  wTere  carried 
away  in  like  manner,  to  the  ruin  of  many  of  their  richest  citizens ; 
and  even  in  Spain,  Alberoni  was  at  the  moment  of  his  fall,  medi 
tating  the  establishment  of  a  Philippine  Company,  which  was  to 
make  Manilla  the  depository  of  the  East  India  vand  China  trade. 
With  regard  to  the  effects  of  the  Mississippi  Scheme  on  France, 
opinions  have  been,  and  are  to  the  present  day  divided ;  it  being 
considered  by  some,  that  the  general  financial  revolution  gave  an 
impetus  to  enterprise  and  industry  throughout  the  kingdom,  and 
that  it  was  less  injurious  than  \vould  have  been  the  bankruptcy 
of  the  state,  which  must  otherwise  have  occurred,  about  the  time 
of  the  explosion  of  the  bubble  ;*  while  others  contend,  that  eve  i 
those  advantages,  if  certain,  were  insufficient  to  counterbalance 
the  evils  resulting  from  the  individual  ruin,  and  the  general  de 
moralization  of  the  people.  To  America,  the  consequences  of 
Law's  project  were  important,  as  it  assured  the  continuance  of  the 
French  colony  in  Louisiana,  which  country  would  otherwise  have 
been  infallibly  abandoned,  upon  the  failure  of  Crozat's  project  in 
1717,  and  would  most  probably  have  been  then  occupied  by  the 
English,  notwithstanding  any  efforts  of  the  Spaniards  to  prevent  it. 

*  Smollett,  in  his  History  of  England,  wrote  thus  in  1758: — "In  the  scheme 
of  Law  there  was  something  substantial:  an  exclusive  trade  to  Louisiana  prom 
ised  some  advantage,  though  the  design  was  defeated  by  the  frantic  eagerness  of 
the  people.  Law  himself  became  the  dupe  of  the  Regent,  who  transferred  the 
burden  of  fifteen  hundred  millions  of  the  king's  debts  to  the  shoulders  of  the  sub 
jects;  while  the  projector  was  sacrificed,  as  the  scape-goat  of  political  iniquity. 
The  South  Sea  schema  provided  no  commercial  advantages  of  any  consequence. 
It  was  buoyed  up  by  nothing  but  the  folly  and  rapaciousness  of  individuals,  &c." 

Burke  expresses  similar  opinions,  in  his  View  of  the  European  colonies  in 
America ;  at  the  present  day,  no  distinction  is  made  between  the  two  projects, 
either  as  to  their  honesty,  or  their  feasibility,  or  their  results. 


PROOFS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


A. 

DISCOVERY  OF    THE  BAYS    OF    PENSACOLA  AND    MOBILE    BY 
THE    SPANIARDS. 

1. 

Report  of  a  voyage  made  in  1558,  along  the  northern  coast  of 
the  Mexican  Gulf,  by  Guido  de  las  Bazares,  agreeably  to  the 
orders  of  Don  Luis  de  Velasco,  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  search  of 
a  port  for  the  establishment  of  a  Spanish  colony  in  Florida.* 

SAN  JUAN  DE  ULUA,  February  1st,  1559. 

About  four  or  five  months  since,  the  Viceroy  in  the  name  of  his 
Majesty,  ordered  Guido  de  las  Bazares,  to  go  with  seamen  and  other 
persons,  and  examine  the  coasts  of  Florida  and  the  ports  thereon, 
for  the  security  of  those  who  were  to  be  sent  to  colonize  that  coun 
try  and  Cape  Santa  Helena.  To  this  effect,  he  received  a  com 
mission  and  instructions,  agreeably  to  which,  he  sailed  from  the 
fort  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua  in  New  Spain,  on  the  3rd  of  September 
of  the  last  year  1558,  in  order  to  explore  the  said  coasts,  and 
seek  a  safe  harbor,  for  disembarcation.  He  had  a  large  barque, 
and  two  smaller  vessels  manned  by  sixty  soldiers  and  seamen.  On 
the  5th  of  September  he  reached  the  Panuco  river,  and  leaving  it 
on  the  14th,  he  again  made  the  land  on  that  coast  in  latitude  of 
27£  degrees.  Sailing  along  the  coast,  he  discovered  a  bay  in  28^ 
degrees  of  latitude,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  San  Francisco, 
and  he  took  possession  of  it,  in  the  name  of  the  King. 

Quitting  that  place,  he  steered  towards  the  Alacranes,  in  order 
to  make  the  coast  of  Florida,  where  it  stretches  from  north-west  to 

*  The  two  letters  here  presented  respecting  the  discovery  of  the  Bays  of  Mobile 
and  Pensacola,  are  translated  from  the  French  versions,  in  the  u  Recueil  de 
Voyages  en  Amerique,"  of  Ternaux  Compans.  They  contain  the  earliest  notice 
on  record  of  the  Bay  of  Mobile  ;  Pensacola  Bay  was  already  known  to  the  Span 
iards  as  the  Bay  of  Achusi. 


358  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [A. 

south-east,  but  being  prevented  by  head  winds,  he  made  the  land 
in  29^  degrees,  on  the  coast,  running  east  south-east,  where  he 
found  an  island  about  four  leagues  from  the  mainland;  and  he 
sailed  between  this  and  other  islands,  and  the  continent.  After 
exploring  this  whole  coast,  he  found  that  it  was  bordered  by  shoals 
and  that  the  country  was  entirely  unfit  for  colonization,  being  sub 
merged  in  many  places ;  he  however  took  possession  of  it,  in  the 
name  of  his  Majesty  and  of  the  Viceroy,  and  called  the  place  the 
Ba}r  of  Shoals.  Thence  he  continued,  ten  leagues  towards  the 
east,  and  found  a  bay,  which  he  named  Philippine  Bay,  the  largest 
and  most  convenient  place  in  that  quarter,  and  well  adapted  for  his 
Majesty's  purposes.  The  entrance  is  in  29^  degrees  of  latitude  ; 
it  is  entered  by  passing  the  point  of  an  island,  seven  leagues  long, 
steering  east  south  east ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  bay,  is  a  point 
of  the  mainland,  the  distance  between  the  two  capes  being  about 
half  a  league. 

In  all  the  discoveries  made  east  or  west,  no  other  port  was  found, 
so  good  and  commodious  as  this  Philippine  Bay.  Its  most  remarka 
ble  characteristics  are  these.  From  the  entrance,  to  the  point 
reached  in  it,  the  distance  is  twelve  leagues,  and  it  may  be  three 
or  four  leagues  more  in  depth ;  in  all  about  fifteen  leagues  by  four 
in  width.  The  bottom  is  good,  being  muddy  at  the  depth  of  about 
five  fathoms,*  at  low  tide ;  the  depth  at  the  entrance  is  three  and 
a  half  fathoms,  and  nearly  one  fathom  more,  at  high  tide.  The 
bay  is  very  healthy  ;  the  climate  resembling  that  of  Spain,  as  to 
its  temperature  and  the  quantity  of  rain  ;  the  ground  is  higher  on  the 
east,  than  on  the  west.  The  bay  and  contiguous  waters  abound  in 
fish  and  shell-fish.  The  pine  trees  are  in  great  quantities,  well 
suited  for  ship  building,  especially  for  masts  and  spars ;  there  are 
also  live  oaks,  white  oaks,  nut  trees,  cypresses,  laurels,  and  a  small 
tree  bearing  a  fruit  like  the  chestnut,  t  All  these  trees,  are  found 
on  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  thence  extend  into  the  interior,  and 
are  good  for  ship  building;  besides  which,  are  many  palmettos  and 
vines.  Some  small  rivulets  of  fresh  water,  fall  into  the  bay ;  and 
at  its  extremity,  is  a  wide  opening  which  seems  to  be  the  mouth 
of  a  great  river.  Whilst  they  lay  in  this  bay,  they  obtained  water 
from  the  side  towards  the  north.  The  woods  are  rather  clear  than 

*The  Spanish  braza  or  fathom,  is  equal  to  a  fraction  more  than  five  and  a 
half  English  feet.  The  main  channel  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  Mobile,  is 
not  now,  more  than  fifteen  feet  in  depth  ;  but  great  changes  in  the  depth  of  the 
water  and  the  configuration  of  those  coasts,  are  frequehtly  produced  by  storms. 
The  entrance  of  Mobile  Bay  is  in  latitude  of  30  degrees  13  minutes,  that  is 
about  forty-three  miles  north  of  the  position  assigned  to  it  by  Bazares. 

f  No  doubt  the  Eastaneus  Pwnila,  or  Chinquepin. 


A.J 


DISCOVERY    OF    MOBILE    BAY. 


359 


thick,  so  that  horsemen  might  fight  in  them  ;  and  under  the  trees 
grows  grass  for  horses  and  cattle.  Beyond  the  bay  on  the  east,  are 
high  hills  of  reddish  clay,  of  which  bricks  could  be  made,  and  near 
them,  is  stone  for  building.  On  the  west,  the  clay  is  red  and  yel 
low,  suitable  for  pottery  and  other  purposes.  There  are  also  a 
number  of  birds  of  different  kinds,  such  as  eagles,  ducks,  geese, 
partridges,  pigeons  and  a  great  deal  of  game.  Large  canoes  were 
seen  used  by  the  Indians  in  fishing ;  arid  places  were  found,  en 
closed  for  fishing  in.  The  huts  of  the  natives  contained  Indian 
corn,  beans  and  squashes. 

The  commandant  of  the  expedition  took  possession  of  this  bay, 
in  the  name  of  his  Majesty,  and  called  it  the  Philippine  Bay.  It 
is  distant  about  two  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  from  the  port  of 
San  Juan  de  Ulua.  After  leaving  it,  he  endeavored  twice  to  ex 
plore  the  coast  which  stretches  farther  eastward ;  he  traced  it  more 
than  twenty  leagues,  in  which  he  found  it  running  first  to  the  east, 
and  then  to  the  south-eastward ;  and  being  prevented  by  head 
winds,  from  going  farther,  he  twice  returned  to  the  Philippine  Bay. 
He  also  took  possession  of  this  coast,  in  the  name  of  the  Viceroy, 
and  called  it  the  Gulf  of  Velasco. 

The  weather  being  rough  and  dangerous  for  vessels,  and  the  pi 
lots  and  seamen  considering  that  .it  was  no  longer  safe  to  navigate 
along  that  distant  coast,  the  commander  thought  i,t  best  to  return 
to  New  Spain,  and  give  accounts  of  his  discoveries,  so  that  the  fleet 
which  was  to  make  the  expedition  to  Florida  and  Santa  Helena, 
might  depart  as  soon  as  possible  on  its  voyage.  He  therefore 
quitted  the  coast  of  Florida,  on  the  3d  of  December,  and  entered 
the  port  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  on  the  14th,  where  he  made  the 
present  report,  on  oath,  as  containing  all  that  he  had  to  say ;  and 
after  it  had  been  read  over  to  him,  he  approved  it,  and  signed  it 

with  his  name."  -, 

GUIDO  DE  LAS  BAZARES. 


2. 
EXPEDITION  OF  ARELLANO  TO  FLORIDA. 

Despatch  from  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico ,  to  King  Philip  II.  of 
Spain,  respecting  the  expedition  of  Don  Tristan  de  Luna  y 
•Arellano,  for  the  settlement  of  Florida. 

MEXICO,  September  24th,  1559. 

SIRE  —  In  a  former  letter,  I  stated  to  your  Majesty,  that  the  fleet 
which  had  been  ordered  for  the  colonization  of  the  coasts  and  the 
interior  of  Florida,  had  sailed;  and  that  I  was  momentarily  expect- 


360  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ing  the  arrival  of  vessels,  bringing  me  news  of  the  results  of  the 
voyage,  and  where  the  vessels  had  anchored. 

On  the  9th  of  this  month,  a  galleon  sent  by  the  governor  Don 
Tristan  de  Arellano,  arrived  in  fourteen  days  from  the  port  of 
Ychusi,  *  where  the  landing  was  effected,  and  which  received  the 
name  of  the  Philippine  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  in  consequence  of  its 
having  been  entered  on  the  day  of  our  Lady  of  August,  t  The  port 
and  the  country  are  such  as  your  Majesty  may  see,  by  the  subjoin 
ed  narrative  extracted  from  that  sent  to  me  by  the  governor,  and 
brought  by  two  pilots  in  the  galleon.  As  at  the  moment  of  their 
arrival,  two  ships  were  about  to  sail  for  Spain,  I  have  thought  pro 
per  to  send  you  this  report,  reserving  to  myself  to  despatch  one, 
more  circumstantial,  in  order  to  inform  your  Majesty,  particularly, 
of  the  result  of  this  expedition.  I  think  that  the  governor  will 
also  send  it  to  you  by  the  vessels  which  he  has  brought  from  Spain, 
and  which  are  about  to  depart.  Juan  Rodriguez,  the  chief  pilot, 
who  observed  the  latitudes  of  the  coasts  and  the  ports,  will  go  in 
one  of  them ;  the  pilots  who  came  here  say,  that  the  port  is  in  a 
little  more  than  30  degrees.  The  Spaniards  and  the  Indians  enter 
ed  it  without  danger.  The  governor  writes  to  me,  that  he  has  met 
no  resistance,  that  he  saw  only  a  few  Indians  on  the  shore,  that  he 
had  learned  that  at  the  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  leagues  in  the 
interior  from  the  port,  were  very  fertile  and  well  peopled  countries. 
He  requests  me  to  send  him  horses,  and  provisions  enough  for  his 
support,  until  he  has  formed  his  colony  at  the  port,  and  fortified  it, 
as  he  did  not  wish  to  seize  them  from  the  Indians ;  adding,  that  in 
order  to  prevent  alarm  among  them,  he  would  not  penetrate  into 
the  interior.  Of  two  hundred  and  forty  horses  carried  away  by 
him,  he  has  thrown  one  hundred  into  the  sea ;  the  remaining  one 
hundred  and  forty  have  been  landed  in  good  order,  and  capable  of 
such  services,  as  may  be  required,  to  place  him  out  of  reach  of  dan 
ger,  and  to  insure  the  tranquillity  of  the  country,  for  twelve  or 
fifteen  leagues  around.  In  February  or  March,  I  shall  send  him 
one  hundred  and  fifty  horses,  and  in  November  of  this  year,  some 
vessels  of  middle  size,  will  carry  him  provisions. 

The  fleet  intended  for  the  colonization  of  Florida  and  Cape  Santa 
Helena,  sailed  from  the  port  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  on  the  llth  of 
June.  The  vessels  had  favorable  weather  for  seventeen  days,  at  the 
end  of  which,  they  were  within  twenty  leagues  of  the  river  of  Espi- 
ritu-Santo  [the  Mississippi]  in  about  27^  degrees  of  latitude.  From 

*  Written  Ychusi,  Achusi,  and  Ochuse,  in  the  old  Spanish  accounts, 
f  The  15th  of  August,  the  day  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  accord 
ing  to  the  Roman  Catholic  calendar. 


A.]  DISCOVERY    OF    MOBILE    BAY.  361 

that  place,  they  sailed  six  leagues  to  the  south-east,  south  south-west, 
and  south,  until  they  reached  the  latitude  of  the  Alacranes,  in  27 
degrees,  south-west  of  the  river.*  Thence  they  made  another  stretch 
to  the  north-east  to  examine  the  coasts  of  Florida ;  and  eight  days 
afterwards,  on  the  eve  of  the  Visitation  of  Saint  Elizabeth,  [July 
1st]  they  descried  the  coast  of  Florida,  at  the  distance  of  eight 
leagues  west  from  the  Bay  of  Miruelo,  t  in  latitude  of  25^  degrees. 

The  fleet  then  anchored  and  took  in  fresh  water,  wood  and  grass  ; 
the  bad  weather  was  very  annoying,  and  on  the  17th  of  July,  they 
sailed  for  the  port  of  Ychusi.  A  ship  going  ahead  examined  the 
coast ;  the  pilot  who  was  aboard  of  her,  not  recognizing  the  port 
of  Ychusi,  passed  it,  and  anchored  in  the  Philippine  Bay,  discov 
ered  by  Guido  de  las  Bazares.  The  governor  sent  Don  Tristan  de 
Arellano,  f  in  search  of  the  port  of  Ychusi,  which  he  knew  to  be 
the  best  and  safest  on  the  whole  coast.  A  ship  sailing  along  the 
coast,  towards  the  east,  from  which  the  fleet  came,  found  the  port 
of  Ychusi,  which  is  twenty  leagues  from  the  Philippine  Bay,  and 
about  thirty-five  leagues  from  the  Bay  of  Miruelo;  so  that  it  lies 
nearly  midway  between  the  two  bays,  in  latitude  of  30  degrees  20 
minutes.  The  ship  having  brought  news  of  this,  it  was  agreed  to 
carry  the  fleet  thither,  but  as  it  was  considered  better  for  the 
horses,  that  they  should  go  by  land,  they  were  disembarked  in  the 
Philippine  Bay ;  and  some  companies  of  infantry,  went  by  land  to 
Ychusi,  with  about  one  hundred  and  forty  horses,  all  that  remained 
of  two  hundred  and  forty,  the  others  having  died  at  sea. 

Guido  had  been  to  this  Philippine  Bay ;  the  fleet  ran  some  danger 
in  entering  it,  in  consequence  of  the  little  depth  of  water,  on  the 
bar,  which  renders  the  entrance  of  large  vessels  difficult,  and  of  the 
strong  current  at  the  place,  as  well  as  from  bad  weather.  The  army 
quitted  the  Philippine  Bay  for  the  port  of  Ychusi,  on  the  day  of 
our  Lady  of  August  (loth)  for  which  reason  it  was  called  Santa 
Maria  Felipina.  It  is  one  of  the  best  ports  as  yet  discovered  in 
the  Indies ;  the  depth  at  the  shallowest  place,  is  not  less  than 
eleven  cubits  and  within,  it  is  from  seven  to  eight  fathoms.  The 
Spaniards  are  there  still.  The  bar  is  half  a  league  wide;  the  en 
trance  may  be  easily  recognized  by  a  red  ravine  [barranca]  on  the 
eastern  side.  Vessels  may  anchor  in  four  or  five  fathoms,  at  the 

*  The  only  place  in  the  Mexican  Gulf,  now  known  by  this  name,  is  a  shoal 
with  some  islets  rising  above  it,  near  the  west  coast  of  Yucatan,  about  the  22d 
degree  of  latitude.  The  Alacranes  mentioned  by  Bazares,  as  in  the  27th  degree 
of  latitude  south-west  of  the  Mississippi,  cannot  now  be  identified. 

f  Probably  the  same  now  called  St.  Andrew's  Bay. 

J  Probably  a  son  of  the  governor.  The  same  person  commanded  the  vessel 
which  brought  the  news  to  Mexico. 

46 


362  PROOFS     AND     ILLUSTRATIONS.  [A 

distance  of  a  bow  shot  from  the  shore,  and  the  harbor  is  so  safe 
that  no  wind  could  occasion  the  least  injury  to  them.  Some 
cabins  were  observed,  apparently  belonging  to  Indian  fishermen  ; 
the  soil  appears  to  be  very  fertile,  producing  many  walnut  trees, 
vines  and  other  fruits  ;  the  woods  are  thick  and  in  them  is  much 
game  and  birds  ;  the  fish  are  excellent  and  of  all  kinds,  and  a  field 
of  Indian  corn  was  seen. 

On  the  25th  of  the  month  of  August,  the  governor  sent  Don 
Tristan  de  Arellano  in  a  galleon,  which  had  accompanied  him,  to 
bear  the  news  of  what  had  occurred.  This  vessel  entered  the  port 
of  San  Juan  de  Ulua  on  the  9th  of  September  ;  and  the  provisions 
required  by  the  governor,  in  addition  to  those  carried  with  him  in 
the  fleet,  will  be  immediately  sent  to  him  by  this  vessel.  Other 
vessels  are  expected  here  soon,  on  their  way  to  Spain  ;  they  will 
however  remain  here  until  the  country  has  been  explored,  and  a 
place  has  been  chosen  for  the  first  colony  and  fortress,  and  other 
particulars  have  been  learned  about  the  country,  so  that  every 
thing  maybe  known.  As  soon  as  these  vessels  arrive,  I  shall  send 
a  report  to  your  Majesty,  according  to  the  accounts  received  from 
the  governor,  the  priests  and  the  royal  officers.  I  shall  take  care 
to  protect  them  in  the  name  of  your  Majesty,  and  to  furnish  them 
with  all  that  they  may  need  ;  so  that  they  may  not  vex  the  natives. 
and  may  be  thus  supported  until  they  shall  have  formed  their 
colony  and  gathered  in  their  harvest.  They  will  then  penetrate 
into  the  interior,  which  is  very  fertile,  and  put  into  execution  the 
project  of  propagating  our  holy  religion,  so  as  to  please  the  Lord 
our  God  and  your  Majesty. 

May  God  our  Lord  preserve  your  Majesty's  sacred  Catholic 
Royal  person,  and  grant  to  you  dominions  still  more  extensive 
than  those  already  possessed. 

Luis  DE 


[The  Viceroy,  or  his  secretary  who  wrote  this  despatch,  seems 
to  have  but  partially  understood  the  report  of  the  occurrences  of 
the  expedition.  In  the  beginning,  he  says  that  the  forces  under 
Arellano,  had  landed  at  the  port  of  Achusi,  which  had  received  the 
name  of  Bay  of  Santa  Maria  Felipina  in  consequence  of  its  having 
oeen  entered  on  the  day  of  our  Lady  of  August  ;  and  in  the  latter 
part,  he  applies  the  same  name,  for  the  same  reason,  to  the  other 
bay,  discovered  by  Bazares,  to  which  alone,  the  name  of  Felipina, 
or  the  Philippine,  was  in  reality  given.] 


B.]  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  CAROLINE.  363 

B. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  COLONY  IN  FLORIDA.  —  CAP 
TURE  OF  FORT  CAROLINE. 

Extract  from  Laudouiniere's  narrative  describing  the  capture  of 
Fort  Caroline,  by  tlie  Spaniards,  and  his  own  escape.  * 

[After  relating  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  river  of  May, 
their  retirement  to  the  river  of  Dolphins  where  they  established 
themselves  at  St.  Augustine,  and  the  departure  of  Jean  Ribault  car 
rying  all  the  large  vessels  and  the  effective  men,  Laudouiniere  pro 
ceeds  to  show  what  took  place  at  Fort  Caroline,  of  which  he  was 
left  in  command,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1565.] 

We  then  began  to  prepare  for  defence,  and  to  restore  what  had 
been  thrown  down,  especially  on  the  side  towards  the  river,  where 
I  planted  sixty  trunks  of  trees  in  the  ground,  in  order  to  replace  the 
palisade,  and  covered  them  with  planks  taken  from  the  vessel 
which  I  was  building.  We  were  however  unable  to  do  much  work, 
on  account  of  the  storms,  which  were  so  hard  and  incessant,  as  to 
prevent  us  from  finishing  our  enclosure.  Finding  ourselves  in  this 
extremity,  I  made  a  review  of  our  men,  as  they  were  left  by  Cap 
tain  Jean  Ribault,  in  order  to  see  who  among  them,  were  fit  to  bear 
arms ;  but  there  were  only  nine  or  ten,  and  of  these  not  more  than 
two  or  three,  I  believe  had  ever  drawn  a  sword  from  its  sheath,  in 
their  lives.  Let  those  who- have  said,  that  I  had  many  men  with 
me  and  should  have  been  able  to  defend  myself,  listen,  and  if  they 
have  understanding,  see  what  sort  of  men  these  were.  Of  nine  of 
them,  four  were  youths  who  served  Captain  Ribault,  and  took  care 
of  his  dogs,  and  another  was  his  cook.  Among  those  outside  of 
the  fort,  and  who  belonged  to  Captain  Ribault' s  company,  ihere 
was  a  carpenter  at  least  sixty  years  old,  a  brewer,  an  old  cross 
bow-man,  two  shoemakers,  and  four  or  five  men  with  wives,  one 
player  on  the  spinet,  the  two  servants  of  M.  de  Lys,  the  servants 
of  M.  de  Beauhaire  and  M.  de  la  Grange,  and  about  eighty-five  or 
six  camp  followers,  men,  women  and  children.  Such  were  my 
forces  —  numerous,  courageous  and  effective  for  defence,  as  .they 
showed  themselves  to  be.  Very  different  would  it  have  been,  if 
Captain  Ribault  had  not  borrowed  from  me  nearly  all  my  men. 
Of  my  own  men,  who  were  left  to  me,  there  were  about  sixteen  or 
seventeen,  who  could  bear  arms,  and  they  were  all  poor  and  ema- 

*  Translated  from  the  "  Histoire  Notable  de  la  Floride,"  written  by  Laudoui 
niere  and  arranged  and  published  after  his  death  by  Basanier  at  Paris  in  1585. 


PROOFS     AND     ILLUSTRATIONS. 


elated  ;  the  others  were  sick,  or  suffering  from  wounds  received  in 
the  fight,  which  my  lieutenant  had  with  Outina. 

Having  made  this  review,  we  arranged  our  guards,  dividing  them 
into  two  parties,  so  that  the  soldiers  could  have  every  other  night 
tree :  and  we  then  examined,  to  ascertain  who  might  be  most  effi 
cient,  and  of  these  we  selected  M.  de  St.  Cler  and  M.  de  la  Vio-ne, 

'  O  ' 

to  whom  we  delivered  candles  and  lanterns,  to  make  the  rounds  ;  on 
account  of  the  badness  of  the  weather,  I  gave  them  also  an  hour 
glass,  in  order  that  the  sentinels  might  take  equal  turns  of  duty. 
We  however  did  not  omit,  either  from  bad  weather  or  from  my 
sickness,  to  visit  the  different  guard  posts.  On  the  night  of  the 
19th  of  September,  La  Vigne  was  on  guard  with  his  division,  and 
performed  all  that  duty,  though  it  was  raining  incessantly ;  when 
day  broke,  and  he  saw  the  rain  fall  still  heavier,  he  took  pity  on 
the  sentinels  who  were  exposed  to  it,  and  not  dreaming  that  the 
Spaniards  would  come  in  such  weather,  he  withdrew  them,  and 
went  himself  to  his  lodgings.  However,  some  one  who  had  busi 
ness  outside  of  the  fort,  and  my  trumpeter  who  had  gone  on  the 
rampart,  perceived  a  body  of  Spaniards  coming  down  a  little  hill, 
and  immediately  gave  the  alarm ;  which  as  soon  as  I  heard,  I  went 
out  armed  with  sword  and  buckler,  to  the  middle  of  the  yard,  where 
I  began  to  call  the  soldiers  around  me.  Some  of  the  boldest  of 
them  went  toward  the  breach  on  the  south  side,  or  to  the  place 
where  the  artillery  ammunition  was  kept,  and  were  there  overcome 
and  slain.  Through  the  same  breach,  two  standards  were  intro 
duced  and  planted,  and  two  others  on  the  opposite  side,  where 
was  another  breach ;  and  all  those  who  lodged  in  that  quarter,  were 
in  like  manner  defeated  and  slain.  Whilst  I  was  on  my  way  to 
assist  the  persons  defending  the  breach  on  the  south-west,  I  met  a 
large  body  of  Spaniards,  who  had  forced  our  men  to  retreat  and  came 
in  with  them  ;  they  drove  me  to  the  square,  where  on  my  arrival, 
I  saw  among  them,  the  Frenchman  FranQois  Jean,  one  of  the  sea 
men  who  had  stolen  away  my  barques,  and  had  conducted  the 
Spaniards  to  the  place ;  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  me,  he  cried  to  them 
— "  there  is  the  captain."  This  body  was  led  on  by  a  captain,  who  I 
suppose,  was  Don  Pedro  Menendez.  They  pushed  at  me  with  their 
pikes,  which  1  received  on  my  buckler;  but  seeing  that  I  could 
make^  no  resistance  to  such  numbers,  and  that  the  place  was  al 
ready  taken,  and  the  flags  planted  on  the  ramparts,  while  I  had 
only  one  man,  named  Barthelemy,with  me,  I  went  to  the  court  of 
my  lodgings,  where  I  was  pursued  and  should  have  been  caught, 
but  for  a  flag  which  was  stretched  across  it :  for  whilst  the  Span 
iards  were  amusing  themselves  with  cutting  the  cords  of  the  flag, 
I  made  my  escape  through  the  breach  on  the  west,  near  the  lieu- 


B.]  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  CAROLINE.  365 

tenant's  house,  and  ran  to  the  woods.  There  I  foun,d  many  of  my 
men  who  had'  escaped,  and  among  them  were  three  or  four  badly 
wounded;  and  I  said  to  them  —  "My  boys,  since  it  is  God's  will 
that  this  evil  should  come  upon  u»,  we  must  endeavor  to  make  our 
way  through  the  marshes,  to  the  vessels  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. " 
Some  of  them  however  would  go  to  a  village  in  the  woods ;  the 
others  followed  me  through  the  reeds  in  the  water,  until  being  disa 
bled  by  my  sickness  from  going  any  farther,  I  sent  the  men  who  were 
with  me  and  could  swim  well,  to  the  vessels,  to  give  information 
of  wThat  had  happened,  and  to  summon  them  to  come  to  my  assis 
tance.  They  were  unable  in  all  that  day,  to  reach  the  vessels ; 
and  I  was  obliged  to  remain,  the  whole  night,  in  the  water  up  to  my 
shoulders,  with  one  of  my  men  who  would  not  abandon  me. 

On  the  following  day,  being  scarcely  able  to  breathe,  I  began  with 
my  companion,  a  soldier  named  Jean  de  Chemin,  to  say  my  pray 
ers,  as  I  found  myself  so  weak,  that  I  expected  to  die  every 
moment ;  and  in  fact  had  he  not  held  me  up,  I  could  not  possibly 
have  been  saved.  After  we  had  said  our  prayers,  I  heard  a  voice, 
and  I  judged  it  to  come  from  one  of  the  men  sent  to  the  vessels, 
which  had  arrived  opposite  to  them,  calling  for  a  boat;  for  the 
people  in  those  vessels — having  learned  what  had  occurred  from 
Jean  de  Hais,  a  master  carpenter  who  came  to  them  in  a  boat — had 
sailed  along  the  shore,  to  see  whether  they  could  save  any  one,  as 
it  was  certainly  their  duty  to  do ;  and  they  came  just  to  the  place, 
where  the  two  men  sent  by  me  were  standing  and  calling  to  them. 
As  soon  as  these  men  were  taken  up,  and  the  others  learned  where 
I  was,  they  came  and  found  me  in  a  piteous  condition.  Five  or  six 
of  them  took  me  in  their  arms,  and  carried  me  to  the  boat,  for  I  could 
not  possibly  have  walked  a  step  :  on  entering  it,  some  of  the  seamen 
stripped  off  their  clothes  to  cover  me,  and  wished  to  carry  me  im 
mediately  to  their  vessels  and  give  me  some  brandy ;  but  I  would 
not  consent  to  this,  until  I  had  first  gone  along  the  shore  through 
the  reeds  in  the  boat,  in  search  of  other  unfortunate  persons,  of 
whom  we  thus  found  eight  or  ten,  and  among  them  the  last,  was 
the  nephew  of  the  treasurer  Le  Beau. 

After  we  had  all  reached  the  vessel*,  I  consoled  them  as  well  as 
I  could,  and  sent  back  the  boat,  in  search  of  others.  On  its  re 
turn,  the  seamen  told  me  that  Captain  Jacques  Ribault  [son  of  the 
governor]  who  was  in  his  vessel  about  two  musket-shots  distant, 
had  parleyed  with  the  Spaniards ;  and  that  Frangois  Jean  [the  trai 
tor]  had  gone  on  board  of  his  vessel,  and  remained  there  some 
time  ;  at  which  they  were  much  astonished,  as  this  man  had  been 
the  cause  of  the  whole  misfortune.  After  I  had  got  aboard  of  the 
vessel  called  Le  Levrier,  Captain  Jacques  Ribault  and  Captain 


366  PROOFS    AND     ILLUSTRATIONS.  [B. 

Valvot  came  to  see  me,  and  we  concluded  that  we  should  return  to 
France ;  and  finding  the  vessel  without  captain,  ^ilot,  mate  or 
second  mate,  1  advised  that  persons  should  be  chosen  from  among 
the  seamen,  to  fill  these  offices,  and  that  they  should  be  chosen  by 
the  votes  of  the  seamen.  I  also  took  sixteen  of  the  crew  of  a  small 
vessel,  which  having  no  ballast,  could  not  have  been  saved  and 
was  accordingly  sunk ;  and  having  thus  increased  my  own  force,  I 
appointed  the  second  mate  of  the  small  vessel  to  be  my  mate. 
Having  no  pilot,  I  begged  Captain  Jacques  Ribault  to  give  me  one 
of  four  of  his  men  whom  I  named  to  act  in  that  capacity ;  and  he 
promised  to  do  so,  but  he  never  did,  notwithstanding  all  my  remon 
strances  when  we  were  about  to  sail,  and  that  it  was  for  the  service 
of  the  king.  I  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  vessel,  which  I  had  bought 
from  the  English  captain,  from  want  of  rigging  wrhich  had  all  been 
taken  away  by  Captain  Jean  Ribault;  and  I  could  only  save  the  guns 
which  jvere  iron,  giving  nine  of  them  to  Jacques  Ribault,  and  keep 
ing  five  in  my  own  vessel. 

B.— No.  2. 

MASSACRE  OF  THE  FRENCH  AT  MATANZAS  INLET. 

Narrative  of  the  Massacre  of  the  French  Protestants  under  Jean 
Ribault,  after  their  shipwreck  on  the  ^coast  of  Florida,  written 
by  Doctor  Solis  d#  las  Meras,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Jldelan- 
tado  Pedro  Menendez,  who  witnessed  the  occurrences. 

[Barcia  in  his  Chronological  History  of  Florida,  presents  this 
narrative  as  "copied  from  the  original  manuscript,  without  altera 
tion  or  omission."  It  contains  the  only  direct  evidence  of  the  hor 
rible  circumstances  to  which  it  relates ;  and  this  is  presented  with 
a  detail,  and  an  absence  from  all  compunction  on  the  part  of  the 
writer,  which  are  together  calculated  to  inspire  the  utmost  faith  in 
his  statements.] 

The  Adelantado  employed  himself  in  fortifying  St.  Augustine  as 
well  as  possible,  in  order  to  resist  the  French,  in  case  they  should 
come  to  -that  place ;  and  whilst  he  was  thus  engaged,  some  Indians 
informed  him,  by  signs,  that  at  the  distance  of  four  leagues  off, 
were  many  Christians,  who  were  unable  to  cross  an  arm  of  the  sea, 
though  it  was  very  narrow,  as  it  ran  up  into  the  land,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  cross  it  in  order  to  reach  St.  Augustine.  The  Adelantado 
thereupon  took  forty  soldiers,  and  setting  off  in  the  evening  of  the 
same  day,  he  after  midnight,  reached  that  arm  of  the  sea  where  he 
rested  until  morning :  then  leaving  his  soldiers  concealed,  he  as- 


B.]  MASSACRE    OF    THE    FRENCH    AT    MATANZAS   INLET.  367 

cended  a  tree  from  which  he  saw  a  large  number  of  persons,  on 
the  other  side,  with  flags  flying ;  and  in  order  to  prevent  them  from 
crossing  the  inlet,  he  went  near  enough  to  be.  able  to  count  them, 
so  that  they  might  suppose  him  to  be  accompanied  by  a  strong 
force.  As  soon  as  those  persons  saw  him,  one  of  them  swam 
across  the  inlet ;  he  was  a  Frenchman  and  he  said,  that  they  were 
all  French,  who  had  escaped  after  the  wreck  of  their  vessels  in  a 
storm.  The  -Adelantado  then  asked  him,  what  Frenchmen  they 
were  ?  to  which  he  answered,  that  they  were  two  hundred  in  num 
ber,  officers  and  men,  under  Jean  Ribault,  the  Viceroy  and  Captain 
General  of  that  country  for  the  King  of  France.  He  was  then 
asked,  whether  they  were  Catholics  ?  and  he  said,  that  they  were 
all  of  the  reformed  religion;  which  the  Adelantado  knew,  as  they 
had  told  him  so,  when  they  first  saw  his  vessels,  and  the  same  had 
been  declared  by  the  women  and  children,  whose  lives  were  spared, 
when  the  fort  was  taken.  He  had  moreover  found  in  the  fort  six 
boxes,  filled  with  books  respecting  the  doctrines  of  the  new  sect, 
all  bound  and  gilt,  which  he  caused  to  be  burnt ;  and  he  also  learned 
that  they  said  no  mass,  and  that  the  Lutheran  opinions  were 
preached  to  them  every  evening.  The  Adelantado  upon  this  ask 
ed  the  man,  what  he  wanted  ?  and  he  said,  that  tfyeir  captain  had 
sent  him  to  see  who  the  people  were  on  this  side  of  the  inlet.  On 
being  asked,  if  he  wished  to  return,  he  said  yes,  but  he  wished  to 
know  who  were  the  persons  around  him.  This  he  said  distinctly 
[in  Spanish  probably]  for  he  was  a  Gascon  from  St.  Jean  de  Luz. 
The  Adelantado  then  told  him  to  say  to  his  captain,  that  he  was 
himself  the  Viceroy  and  Captain  General  of  all  that  country,  for 
King  Philip ;  that  he  was  named  Pedro  Menendez,  and  was  there 
with  soldiers,  to  see  who  the  persons  were  beyond  the  inlet, 
having  heard  of  them  the  day  before.  The  Frenchman  then  went 
away,  but  he  soon  returned,  and  asked  an  assurance  of  safe  conduct 
for  his  captain  and  four  other  gentlemen,  to  come  over  and  confer; 
and  to  that  end,  he  begged  the  loan  of  the  boat,  in  which  the  Ade 
lantado  had  gone  thither.  In  answer,  he  was  told  to  assure  his  cap 
tain,  that  he  might  come,  in  safety,  on  the  word  of  the  Adelantado ; 
and  the  boat  being  sent  over  for  him,  be  came  with  the  others. 

The  Adelantado  received  them  courteously,  with  about  ten  of  his 
own  men,  ordering  the  others  to  remain  at  a  short  distance,  scat 
tered  about  on  the  sand  hills,  so  that  the  French  might  suppose 
their  number  to  be  greater.  One  of  the  Frenchmen  then  said,  that 
he  was  the  captain  of  those  men,  that  four  galleons  and  other  small 
vessels  belonging  to  the  King  of  France,  had  been'  lost  in  the 
storm,  within  the  distance  of  twenty  leagues,  and  they  were  the 
crew  of  one  of  them ;  and  he  asked  for  a  boat  to  cross  that  arm  of 


PROOFS     AND     ILLUSTRATIONS.  TB. 

L 

the  sea,  and  another  four  leagues  beyond,  namely  that  of  St.  Au 
gustine,  on  the  way  to  their  fort,  distant  twenty  leagues  from  that 
place.  This  was  the  fort  which  the  Admiral  had  taken  from  them. 
He  asked  them,  whether  they  were  Catholics  or  Lutherans.  They 
said,  they  were  all  of  the  new  religion  ;  whereupon  the  Adelantado 
said  to  them  —  "  Gentlemen,  your  fort  has  been  taken,  and  every 
one  in  it  put  to  death,  except  the  women  and  children  under  fifteen 
years  old ;  and  in  order  that  you  may  be  assured  of  'this,  the  sol 
diers  here  with  me,  have  about  them,  many  articles  which  were 
in  the  fort,  and  here  are  also  two  of  the  French,  whom  I  spared  as 
being  Catholics.  •  Sit  down  and  refresh  yourselves,  and  I  will  send 
the  two  Frenchmen  to  you,  as  well  as  the  things  taken  in  the  fort, 
in  order  that  you  may  be  satisfied."  The  Adelantado  then  gave 
them  food,  and  sent  the  two  Frenchmen  to  them,  with  many  articles 
from  the  fort,  after  which  he  retired  to  dine  among  his  own  people. 
At  the  end  of  an  hour,  he  went  back  to  the  French,  and  asked 
them,  whether  they  were  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had 
told  them  ?  To  which  they  answered  affirmatively,  and  entreated 
him  to  Yavor  them  with  vessels  and  seamen  to  carry  them  to 
France.  The  Adelantado  replied  that  he  would  do  so  willingly,  if 
they  were  Catholics,  or  he  had  vessels  for  them ;  but  that  he  had 
no  vessels  to  spare,  as  he  had  sent  one  to  the  San  Mateo  to  take 
the  French  women  and  children,  and  carry  them  to  Santo  Domin 
go,  and  bring  back  provisions,  and  the  other  was  required  to  carry 
accounts  to  his  Majesty,  of  all  that  had  occurred  there.  The 
French  captain  then  asked,  that  they  should  all  have  assurance  of 
their  lives,  and  be  allowed  to  remain  together,  until  vessels  should 
come  to  take  them  to  France,  as  the  Kings  of  Spain  and  France 
were  brothers  and  friends.  The  Adelantado  observed,  that  this 
was  true,  and  that  he  should  give  all  favor  to  Catholics  and  friends, 
as  he  should  thereby  be  serving  both  sovereigns  :  but  as  they  were 
of  the  new  sect,  he  held  them  as  enemies,  and  would  war  upon 
them  to  blood  and  fire ;  and  would  treat  with  the  utmost  cruelty, 
all  such  as  he  should  find  in  those  lands  and  seas,  of  which  he  was 
Viceroy  and  Captain  General  for  his  King,  and  would  plant  the 
Holy  Gospel  in  that  land,  so  that  the  Indians  might  be  enlightened, 
and  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Catholic  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  as  prescribed  by  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  whether 
they  should  choose  to  surrender  their  flags  and.  arms,  and  submit 
to  his  mercy,  for  him  to  do  as  he  pleased  with  them,  or  to  act  in 
any  other  way^,  they  should  make  no  truce  or  convention  with  him. 
The  French  Captain,  finding,  after  all  that  he  could  say,  that  the 
Adelantado  would  not  change  this  determination,  went  back  in  the 
boat  to  his  people,  saying  that  he  would  inform  them  of  what  had 


B.]  MASSACRE    OF    THE    FRENCH    AT    MATANZAS    INLET.  369 

passed,  and  agree  on  what  was  to  be  done,  and  would  bring  back 
the  answer  within  two  hours ;  to  which  the  Adelantado  said,  that 
they  might  act  as  they  pleased,  and  he  would  wait  for  them. 

At  the  end  of  the  two  hours,  the  same  French  Captain  returned, 
with  the  same  persons  as  before,  and  told  the  Adelantado,  that 
there  were  among  his  people  many  noblemen,  who  would  give  him 
fifty  thousand  ducats,  if  he  would  spare  the  lives  of  them  all.  The 
Adelantado  answered,  that  though  he  was  only  a  poor  soldier,  he 
could  not  be  guilty  of  such  an  act  of  meanness  which  might  bring 
on  him  the  charge  of  corruption,  and  that  if  he  should  be  liberal 
and  merciful,  it  would  be  without  any  considerations  of  self-inter 
est.  The  French  Captain  however  still  insisted ;  upon  which  the 
Adelantado  declared,  that  if  heaven  and  earth  should  come  to 
gether,  he  would  not  alter  his  resolution.  The  French  Captain 
thereupon  returned  to  his  people,  telling  the  Adelantado  that  he 
would  immediately  obtain  their  answer ;  and  in  half  an  hour,  he 
came  back,  bringing  in  the  boat  the  flags,  with  about  seventy  ar 
quebuses,  twenty  pistols,  a  number  of  swords,  bucklers,  and  some 
helmets  and  breast  plates,  which  he  delivered  to  the  Adelantado, 
declaring  that  the  Frenchmen  all  surrendered  themselves  to  his 
mercy.  The  Adelantado  upon  this,  ordered  twenty  of  his  soldiers 
to  go  in  the  boat,  and  bring  over  the  Frenchmen  ten  at  a  time,  as 
the  river  was  narrow,  and  might  be  easily  crossed :  and  he  ordered 
Diego  de  Valdes  the  Admiral  of  the  fleet,  to  receive  the  flags  and 
arms,  and  to  see  to  the  transportation  of  the  French,  and  that  they 
should  not  be  ill-treated  by  the  soldiers ;  after  which  he  retired  to 
the  distance  of  two  bow-shots,  from  the  shore,  behind  some  sand 
hills,  where  those  coming  over  in  the  boat,  could  not  see  him. 
He  then  safd  to  the  French  Captain  and  the  eight  other  men  of 
that  nation  who  were  with  him  —  "Gentlemen,  I  have  but  few 
men,  and  they  are  not  as  yet  well  tried,  and  as  you  are  many  in 
number,  it  would  be  easy  for  you  to  put  us  to  death,  in  return  for 
our  killing  your  people,  when  we  took  your  fort ;  and  therefore  we 
must  tie  your  hands  behind  you,  and  you  must  thus  march  about 
four  leagues,  to  my  headquarters."  The  French  Captain  answered, 
lat  he  might  do  so,  and  their  hands  were  accordingly  tied  behind 
lem,  with  match-cords ;  but  this  was  not  seen  by  the  ten  who 
rere  coming  over  in  the  boats,  it  being  thus  arranged,  to  prevent 
French  on  the  other  side,  from  learning  what  was  going  on  and 
thus  becoming  alarmed. 

In  this  manner,  two  hundred  and  eight  Frenchmen  were  brought 

over,  and   as  they  arrived  the   Adelantado   asked   them,  whether 

any  among   them    were   Catholics,   and    might  wish    to    confess  ? 

Eight  of  them   admitted  themselves  to  be  so,  and  were  sent  to 

47 


370  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [B. 

the  boat,  to  be  carried  to  St.v  Augustine :  the  others  declared  that 
they  were  members  of  the  New  Religion,  that  they  considered 
themselves  good  Christians,  and  that  this  was  their  light,  and 
they  would  follow  no  other.  The  Adelantado  then  ordered  them 
to  be  marched  off,  meat  and  drink  having  been  given  to  each 
party,  as  they  came  over,  before  they  were  tied,  which  was  done 
in  each  case,  before  the  arrival  of  the  next  party ;  and  he  sent  a 
portion  of  them  ahead  under  a  guard,  instructing  the  captain  in 
command,  as  soon  as  he  should  reach  a  line  which  he  would  find 
drawn  on  the  sand  about  a  bow-shot  off,  on  the  way  to  the  fort,  to 
put  all  his  prisoners  to  death.  The  same  instructions  were  given 
to  the  commanders  of  the  guard,  conducting  the  remainder :  and 
thus  they  were  all  killed,  and  the  Adelantado  then  returned  by 
night  to  St.  Augustine,  which  he  reached  at  break  of  day,  the  sun 
being  already  set  when  the  Frenchmen  were  put  to  death. 

On  the  day  after  the  return  of  the  Adelantado  to  St.  Augustine, 
the  same  Indians,  came  and  brought  news,  that  many  more  Chris 
tians  were  assembled  beyond  the  river,  at  the  place  where  the 
others  had  been.  The  Adelantado  at  once,  saw,  that  these  must  be 
Jean  Ribault  the  General  of  the  Lutherans,  on  sea  and  land,  whom 
they  styled  Viceroy  of  the  King  of  France,  in  that  country ;  he 
therefore  went  immediately  with  a  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers,  and 
reached  the  place  where  he  had  before  stopped,  by  midnight.  At 
daybreak,  he  went  to  the  shore,  with  his  men  drawn  out  in  line, 
and  as  the  light  increased,  he  saw  at  the  distance  of  two  bow-shots, 
beyond  the  river,  a  number  of  people,  who  were  preparing  a  raft  in 
order  to  cross  to  the  place,  where  he  was.  As  soon  as  the  French 
saw  the  Adelantado,  they  flew  to  their  arms,  and  displayed  a  royal 
standard,  and  two  flags,  and  with  drums  beating  and  fifes  playing, 
they  offered  battle  to  the  Spaniards.  The  Adelantado  then  ordered 
his  men  to  sit  down,  and  eat  their  breakfasts,  and  to  give  no  signs 
of  hostility,  and  he  walked  with  the  Admiral  and  two  Captains  up 
and  down  on  the  beach,  taking  no  notice  of  the  display  on  the  other 
side  ;  upon  which  the  French  halted,  and  stopping  their  drums  and 
fifes,  sounded  a  trumpet, <and  hoisted  a  white  flag  in  token  of  peace. 
The  Adelantado  replied  by  a  trumpet,  and  taking  a  white  handker 
chief  from  his  pocket,  he  waved  it,  in  like  manner,  as  a  signal  of 
peace.  A  Frenchman  then  got  on  the  raft,  and  cried  aloud  to  us 
to  come  over;  to  which  the  answer  was  given  by  order  of  the  Ade 
lantado,  that  as  they  had  a  raft,  they  might  come  over  to  the  place 
where  he  stood,  if  they  wanted  any  thing  from  him.  The  man  on 
the  raft  replied,  that  it  was  difficult  to  cross  there,  as  the  current 
ran  strongly ;  and  he  requested  that  a  canoe  belonging  to  some 
Indians  who  were  present,  should  be  sent  over  to  them.  The 


B.]  MASSACRE    OF    THE    FRENCH    AT    MATANZAS    INLET.  371 

Adelantado  then  invited  him  to  swim  over,  under  his  assurance  of 
safety  ;  and  a  French  seaman  accordingly  swam  over,  but  the  Ade 
lantado  would  not  allow  him  to  speak  to  him,  and  bade  him  to  take 
the  canoe,  and  go  and  tell  his  captain,  that  as  he  had  called  out,  if 
he  desired  any  thing,  he  should  send  to  declare  it.  The  seaman 
came  back  with  a  gentleman,  who  announced  himself  as  the  Ser 
geant  Major  of  Jean  Ribault,  Viceroy  and  Captain  General  of  that 
country  for  the  King  of  France,  who  had  sent  him  to  say — that  his 
squadron  had  been  wrecked  by  a  storm,  on  the  sea,  and  that  he 
had  with  him  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  Frenchmen,  with  whom 
he  wished  to  go  to  a  fort  of  their's,  about  twenty  leagues  off;  and  he 
requested  the  loan  of  boats  to  cross  that  river,  as  well  as  another 
about  four  leagues  farther,  asking  at  the  same  time,  whether  they 
were  Spaniards,  and  who  was  their  commander.  The  Adelantado 
answered,  that  they  were  Spaniards,  and  that  their  commander 
was  himself  with  whom  they  were  speaking,  and  his  name  was 
Pedro  Menendez ;  and  that  they  should  tell  their  General,  that  the 
fort  twenty  leagues  off,  had  been  taken  by  him,  and  the  Frenchmen 
in  it  had  been  killed,  as  well  as  many  others,  who  had  escaped 
from  the  wrecked  vessels,  on  account  of  their  misconduct ;  and  he 
led  them  to  the  place  where  the  latter  had  been  put  to  death,  and 
showed  them  the  bodies,  so  that  they  might  see,  there  was  no  use 
of  crossing  the  water  to  go  to  their  fort.  The  Sergeant  Major, 
with  great  appearance  of  self-command,  and  showing  no  signs  of 
affliction,  answered  that  he  would  be  glad  if  the  Adelantado  would 
send  one  of  his  gentlemen,  to  state  the  facts  to  his  General,  and  to 
treat  of  a  safe  conduct,  as  his  people  were  tired,  and  that  the  Ade 
lantado  would  himself  go  over  in  his  boat,  and  visit  the  General. 
To  this  the  Adelantado  replied  —  "  My  friend  go,  and  God  be  with 
you,  and  give  the  answer  which  you  have  received;  and  if  your 
General  then  wishes  to  talk  with  me,  I  give  him  my  word,  that  he 
may  come  and  return  in  safety,  with  four  or  six  of  his  companions 
or  counsellors,  in  order  to  determine  what  should  be  done."  With 
this  answer,  the  French  gentleman  departed,  and  in  half  an  hour 
he  returned,  and  accepted  the  assurance  offered  by  the  Adelantado, 
and  asked  for  the  boat ;  but  this  the  Adelantado  refused,  saying 
that,  they  might  come  over  in  the  canoe,  which  was  safe,  as  the 
passage  was  narrow ;  and  with  this  answer  the  gentleman  went 
back. 

Soon  afterwards  Jean  Ribault  the  French  commander  came  over, 
with  eight  other  gentlemen,  who  were  very  well  received  by  the 
Adelantado,  and  well  treated  by  many  other  persons  in  authority ; 
and  a  barrel  of  preserves  was  given  to  them,  and  every  thing  else  to 
eat  and  drink,  which  they  desired.  Jean  Ribault  then  said,  with 


372  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [B. 

much  humility,  and  many  thanks  for  this  kindness,  that  as  they 
were  sad  and  depressed,  from  the  news  which  they  had  received 
of  the  deaths  of  their  companions,  they  wished  to  eat  and  drink  be 
fore  proceeding  farther ;  and  this  they  accordingly  did.  After 
wards,  Jean  Ribault  observed,  that  his  friends  who  had  been  killed 
there,  as  he  saw,  might  have  been  deceived,  but  he  would  not  be 
so  ;  whereupon  the  Adelantado  ordered  the  things  taken  in  the  fort, 
which  were  there,  to  be  produced,  as  they  were  in  such  quantities, 
that  no  doubt  could  remain.  Before  this  the  French  would  not  be 
lieve  it,  as  one  of  their  men,  a  barber  who  had  been  among  the 
number  ordered  to  be  killed  on  the  previous  occasion,  had  escaped 
and  swimming  over  the  passage,  declared,  that  the  Adelantado 
had  deceived  them,  by  falsely  saying  that  the  fort  had  been  taken ; 
but  now  they  were  certain  of  it;  the  Adelantado  however  told 
them,  that  for  greater  assurance,  they  might  speak  apart  with  the 
Frenchmen  there  present,  who  had  been  in  the  fort.  This  they  did 
and  Jean  Ribault  then  came  to  the  Adelantado,  and  admitted  that 
it  was  all  true,  but  that  what  had  happened  to  the  French,  might 
happen  to  him ;  and  that  as  their  Kings  were  friends,  he  ought  to 
act  a  friend's  part  towards  them,  by  giving  them  vessels  and  pro 
visions  to  go  to  France.  The  Adelantado  replied,  as  he  did  to 
those  to  whom  he  had  previously  done  justice ;  and  though  they 
debated  the  matter  long,  Jean  Ribault  could  obtain  nothing  more 
from  the  Adelantado.  Jean  Ribaulit  at  length  declared,  that  he 
wished  to  go  back  to  his  people,  and  communicate  what  he  had 
learned,  as  there  were  among  them,  many  noble  persons ;  and 
that  he  would  then  return,  and  bring  the  answer  as  to  what  should 
be  done. 

Three  hours  afterwards,  Jean  Ribault  returned  in  the  canoe,  and 
stated  that  among  his  people,  there  were  various  opinions  ;  some 
being  willing  to  yield  to  the  mercy  of  the  Adelantado,  while  others 
would  not  do  so.  The  Adelantado  answered,  that  he  cared  not 
whether  all  or  a  few  or  none  of  them  came  over ;  they  might  do  as 
they  pleased.  Jean  Ribault  then  said,  that  the  half  of  them  were 
willing  to  submit  to  his  mercy,  and  would  pay  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  ducats,  as  ransom ;  and  the  other  half  could  pay  more,  as 
there  were  among  them,  persons  of  great  wealth,  and  large  reve 
nues,  who  came  to  settle  in  that  country ;  but  the  Adelantado  re 
plied,  "Although  it  grieves  me  to  lose  so  large  a  ransom,  which 
would  be  of  great  use  to  me  in  effecting  this  conquest  and  settle 
ment,  yet  this  land  is  placed  under  my  charge,  in  the  King's  name, 
to  plant  the  Holy  Gospel  in  it."  Jean  Ribault  here  found  that  he 
had  ventured  too  far  upon  what  he  thought  would  avail  him ;  sup 
posing  from  the  avarice  which  was  attributed  by  report,  to  the 


MASSACRE    OF    THE    FRENCH    AT    MATANZAS    INLET. 


373 


Adelantado,  that  he  would  have  spared  them  all,  since  his  so  doing 
would  have  been  worth  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  ducats  : 
he  therefore  said  that  he  would  go  back  again  to  his  people,  as  it 
was  late,  and  would  return  on  the  following  day,  and  bring  their 
final  determination.  The  Adelantado  agreed  to  await  his  answer, 
and  at  sun  set  he  went  back  to  his  men. 

On  the  following  day,  Jean  Ribault  returned  in  the  canoe,  and 
delivered  to  the  Adelantado,  two  royal  standards,  one  of  the  King 
of  France,  the  other  of  the  Admiral,  and  the  company  flags,  with  a 
sword,  a  dagger,  a  cuirass  handsomely  gilt,  a  buckler,  a  pistol,  arid 
a  seal  given  to  him  by  the  Admiral  of  France,  to  seal  the  papers, 
which  he  might  issue  ;  and  he  told  the  Adelantado  that  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  persons  there, 
would  deliver  themselves  up  to  his  mercy,  the  others  having  re 
treated  during  the  night.  The  boat  was  then  sent  over  for  those  who 
would  come,  and  for  their  arms ;  and  the  Adelantado  directed 
Captain  Diego  Flores  the  Admiral  of  the  fleet,  to  have  them  brought 
over  by  tens,  as  the  others  had  been ;  and  he  caused  Jean  Ribault 
and  those  who  came,  immediately  on  their  landing,  to  be  carried 
over  the  sand  hills,  where  their  hands  were  tied  behind  them,  and 
they  told,  as  before,  that  this  was  done,  because  they  could  not  be 
left  loose,  as  they  were  to  march  four  leagues  that  night.  When 
they  had  been  all  tied  the  Adelantado  asked  —  "Whether  they 
were  Catholics,  or  Lutherans,  and  whether  any  of  them  wished  to 
confess  ?"  to  which  Jean  Ribault  answered,  that  he  and  all  his  men 
were  of  the  new  religion;  and  he  began  to  repeat  the  Psalm  "  Do- 
mine,  Memento  Mei. "  When  this  was  done,  he  said  that  "They 
came  from  earth,  and  to  earth  they  should  return,  and  whether  now 
or  twenty  years  later,  would  make  no  difference,  so  the  Adelantado 
might  do  as  he  pleased  with  them;"  whereupon  the  Adelantado 
ordered  them  all  to  be  killed,  in  the  same  order,  at  the  same  line, 
as  the  others  had  been,  excepting  only  the  fifers,  drummers,  trum 
peters,  and  four  others,  who  declared  themselves  Catholics,  making 
in  all  sixteen  persons.  The  others  were  all  put  to  death.  The 
Adelantado  then  went  back  on  that  night  to  St.  Augustine,  where 
some  charged  him  with  cruelty ;  others  however  said,  that  he  had 
acted  as  a  good  Captain  should  have  done,  and  that  even  if  they 
had  all  been  Catholic.!,  it  would  have  been  unjust  not  to  have  killed 
them,  as  the  provisions  on  hand,  were  in  quantity  so  small,  that  all 
must  have  died  of  famine,  unless  the  French,  who  were  the  more 
numerous  party,  should  have  killed  the  Spaniards. 

Twenty  days  after  these  last  were  killed,  some  Indians  came  to 
the  Adelantado,  and  told  him  by  signs,  that  at  eight  days'  journey 
farther  south,  at  Cape  Canaveral,  near  the  Bahama  Channel,  many 


374  PROOFS     AND     ILLUSTRATIONS.  [B. 

other  white  men,  like  those  who  had  been  killed,  were  engaged  in 
building  a  fort,  and  a  vessel.  The  Adelantado  immediately  sus 
pected  who  they  were,  and  that  they  were  engaged  in  fortifying 
themselves,  and  in  building  vessels,  from  the  remains  of  those  which 
had  been  wrecked,  in  order  to  send  to  France  for  succors ;  and  he 
despatched  ten  soldiers  to  Fort  San  Mateo,  to  carry  the  news,  and 
^to  order  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  be  sent,  in  addition  to  the 
thirty-five,  whom  he  brought  with  him  from  that  place  to  St.  Au 
gustine.  These  men  were  immediately  sent  by  the  commandant 
under  Captains  Juan  Velez  de  Medrano,  and  Andres  Lopez  Patirio, 
and  there  reached  St.  Augustine  on  the  23d  of  October. 

On  the  26th,  after  mass,  the  Adelantado  set  out  with  three  hun 
dred  men,  and  marching  along  the  coast,  accompanied  by  three 
boats  on  the  sea,  with  arms  and  provisions ;  and  they  all  went  to 
gether,  so  that  where  the  men  encamped  at  night,  there  were  also 
the  boats  drawn  up  on  the  clear  beach.  The  Adelantado  carried 
in  the  boats,  provisions  for  the  three  hundred  men  for  forty  days, 
making  the  rations  for  one  day  serve  for  two ;  and  he  promised  to 
do  all  in  his  power  for  their  advantage ;  but  he  told  them  that  they 
might  undergo  great  risks  and  labors ;  though  he  hoped  that  God 
would,  in  his  goodness  and  mercy,  aid  in  every  way,  the  success 
of  their  holy  and  virtuous  enterprise.  In  this  manner  he  took 
leave  of  the  people  at  the  fort,  many  of  whom  wept  as  he  was 
much  beloved,  feared,  and  respected  by  all. 

In  this  journey,  the  Adelantado  went  on  foot  to  the  admiration 
of  all,  no  horse  being  taken  with  the  party  ;  and  on  the  third  day 
the  rear  guard  of  fifty  soldiers,  with  many  others  who  were  wrearied 
and  could  not  walk,  did  not  come  up.  Two  soldiers,  among  the 
youngest  of  the  party,  each  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  years 
old,  who  had  been  the  first  to  enter  the  fort,  on  the  San  Mateo, 
when  it  was  taken  from  the  French,  on  seeing  the  Adelantado 
walking,  made  extraordinary  efforts  to  keep  up  with  him  ;  at  length 
however,  one  said  to  the  other,  "I  am  so  tired  that  I  must  sit 
down;"  they  accordingly,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Adelan 
tado,  sat  down,  and  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  one  of  them  yielded  up 
his  soul  to  God.  The  other  then  endeavored  to  follow  the  Adelan 
tado,  but  he  straggled  away  in  the  night,  and  nothing  more  was 
'heard  of  him.  The  men  all  marched  along  the  sea-shore  from 
midnight  until  sunrise,  and  then  halting,  they  spread  themselves 
over  the  plain  in  search  of  palm-cabbages,  and  other  vegetables, 
to  eat ;  after  thus  stopping  for  two  hours,  they  marched  until 
eleven  o'clock,  or  noon,  and  then  rested  again  until  two,  when 
they  resumed  the  march,  and  continued  it  until  sunset.  There 
was'no  day  in  which  they  did  not  march  forward  eight  leagues,  to 


0.] 


DISCOVERY    OF    THE    CHESAPEAKE    BAY. 


375 


the  atsonishment  of  all,  as  the  way  lay  over  sands  most  difficult  to 
walk  in,  and  they  had  so  little  food. 

By  these  forced  marches  the  Adelantado,  on  the  morning  of  All 
Saints  day,  [November  first,]  reached  the  fort  which  the  French 
were  building:  the  soldiers,  as  has  been  said,  marching  along  the 
shore,  guided  by  Indians,  and  the  three  boats  accompanying  them 
on  the  water,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Diego  de  Maya. 
The  French  at  the  fort,  as  soon  as  they  saw  our  men,  all  fled  to 
the  woods,  whereupon  the  Adelantado  sent  a  trumpeter  to  them  to 
assure  them  that  if  they  would  return  their  lives  should  be  spared, 
and  they  should  be  treated  like  Spaniards.  About  one  hundred 
and  fifty  of  them  thereupon  came  to  the  Adelantado;  but  their 
captain,  with  about  twenty  others,  sent  word  to  him  that  they 
would  rather  be  eaten  by  Indians  than  surrender  themselves  to  the 
'Spaniards.  The  Adelantado  received  these  people,  and  treated 
them  very  well ;  he  then  set  fire  to  the  fort,  which  was  made  of 
logs,  and  levelled  it,  and  burnt  the  vessel  which  they  were  build 
ing,  and  burned  the  artillery,  because  he  could  not  bring  it  away 
in  the  boats. 

"These,"  says  Barcia,  "are  the  very  words  of  Doctor  Solis  de 
las  Meras,  in  the  narrative  which  he  drew  up  of  all  the  expeditions 
of  the  Adelantado,  and  of  the  conquest  of  Florida,  written  at  the 
time,  without  any  abbreviation  or  alteration  whatsoever.  His 
authority  is,  of  itself,  sufficient  to  overthrow  the  calumnies  and 
malevolent  assertions  of  the  enemies  of  the  Adelantado  and  of  the 
Spanish  nation,  if  the  approbation  of  the  King  and  the  Pope  should 
not  be  already  sufficient." 


c. 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  CHESAPEAKE  BAY  BY  THE  SPANIARDS. 

The  Bay  of  Chesapeake  is  usually  supposed  to  have  been  first  seen 
and  entered  by  the  English,  under  Gosnold,  Smith,  and  Newport,  who 
founded  the  earliest  European  settlement  on  its  waters  in  1607.  The 
only  allusion  to  it,  in  any  English  account  of  anterior  date,  appears  in 
the  narrative,  by  Ralph  Lane,  of  the  proceedings  of  the  colonists  sent 
by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  1585,  to  occupy  the  country  then  first 
named  Virginia,  bordering  upon  the  two  bays  now  known  as  Albe- 
marle  and  Pamlico  Sounds.  Lane  there  relates  that  an  exploring  party 
of  English  had  penetrated  from  their  settlement  on  Roanoke  Island, 


376  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [C. 

between  the  two  sounds,  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  northward,  to 
the  country  of  the  Chesepians,  or  of  Chesepiock;  and  he  had,  at  the 
same  time,  been  told  by  an  Indian  king,  that,  "going  three  days' 
journey  in  a  canoe  up  his  river  of  Chawanoke,  (the  Chowan,)  and  then 
descending  to  the  land,  you  are  within  four  days'  journey,  to  pass  over 
land,  northeast  to  a  certain  king's  country,  whose  province  lieth  upon 
the  sea,  but  his  place  of  greatest  strength  is  an  island,  situate,  as 
he  described  unto  me,  in  a  bay  :  the  water  about  the  island  very  deep." 
The  country  of  the  Chesepiocks  here  mentioned,  we  afterwards  learned 
from  Smith's  History  of  Virginia,  page  65,  to  have  been  on  Elizabeth's 
riyer,  near  the  southernmost  shore  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  as,  indeed, 
its  position  and  distance  with  reference  to  Roanoke  island  plainly  indi 
cate.  The  bay  described  by  the  King  of  Chawanoke  could  have  been 
no  other  than  the  Chesapeake.  Lane  laments  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  explore  it  by  way  of  the  river,  as  well  as  by  vessels  sent  along 
the  coast  to  its  entrance,  particularly  as  he  was  assured  that  it  yielded 
"great  store  of  pearls,"  and  that  it  received  a  large  river  called  Mora- 
tuc,  running  from  the  west. 

This  is  all  that  appears  on  record  concerning  the  bay,  in  any  English 
account  earlier  than  1607.  An  abstract  of  Lane's  narrative  is  given  in 
the  sixth  part  of  the  celebrated  Latin  collection  of  De  Bry,  published 
at  Frankfort  in  1596,  accompanied  by  a  map  on  which  a  bay  is  repre 
sented,  extending  to  some  distance  westward  from  the  Atlantic,  under 
the  thirty-seventh  degree  of  latitude,  with  a  river  called  Moratuc  en 
tering  its  upper  extremity.  The  accounts  of  Raleigh's  colonies  had 
been  carefully  studied  by  Glosnold,  Smith,  and  the  other  projectors  of 
their  expedition;  and  it  is  therefore  possible  that  they  may  have  in 
tended,  on  leaving  England,  to  make  the  bay  mentioned  by  Lane  their 
place  of  disembarcation.  Smith  calls  it  their  "desired  port,"  yet  he, 
at  the  same  time,  states  that  they  were  driven  into  it,  through  the 
providence  of  God,  by  an  "extreme  storm,"  after  Ratcliffe,  one  of 
their  captains,  had  proposed  to  abandon  the  enterprise  and  return  to 
England,  because  they  had  "three  days  passed  their  reckoning,  and 
found  no  land ;"  which  seems  rather  to  show  that  they  were  bound  for 
Wokokon  inlet,  the  entrance  to  Roanoke  island. 

The  discovery  of  Chesapeake  Bay  is  accordingly  attributed,  in  all  our 
histories  as  yet  published,  to  the  English,  at  one  or  other  of  the  periods 
mentioned ;  though  when  and  by  whom  that  name  was  given  is  no  where 
directly  stated.  Stith,  in  his  History  of  Virginia,  states,  as  the  result 
of  his  inquiries  on  the  subject,  that  "Chesapeake  signified,  in  the 
Indian  language,  the  Mother  of  Waters,  implying  that  it  was  the  parent 
and  grand  reservoir  of  all  the  great  rivers  within  it.  But  this,"  he 
properly  observes  in  continuation,  "was  a  dark  and  uncertain  guess, 
especially  considering  the  unstableness  and  vast  mutability  of  the  In- 


C.]  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    CHESAPEAKE    BAY.  377 

dian  tongues,  and  that  nobody  at  present  can  pretend  to  understand 
their  language  at  this  time.  The  best  authority  that  I  have  met  for 
this  derivation  is  what  a  gentleman  of  credit  once  assured  me,  that  in 
a  very  old  Spanish  map  which  he  had  seen,  our  bay  was  laid  down 
under  the  name  of  Madre  des  Acquas,  [Madre  de  Aguas,]  or  some  ex 
pression  to  the  like  purpose."  More  probably  the  name  of  the  Chese- 
piock,  or  Chesapeake  Indians,  inhabiting  the  country  between  Cape 
Henry  and  Hampton  Roads,  who  were  the  first  people  met  by  the 
English  in  1607,  may  have  been  transferred  to  the  bay,  as  those  of 
Pamunkey,  Potomac,  and  Susquehannock  were  subsequently  assigned 
to  the  rivers  on  which  the  nations  so  called  respectively  dwelt. 

Stith,  however,  had  been  rightly  informed  in  part,  at  least,  with 
regard  to  the  early  acquaintance  of  the  Spaniards  with  this  bay ;  for 
in  maps  anterior  to  the  expeditions  of  the  English,  a  bay  joining  the 
Atlantic,  in  the  latitude  of  its  entrance,  was  laid  down  under  the  name 
of  Bay  of  Santa  Maria.  It  would  indeed  have  been  strange  that  this 
great  basin  should  have  thus  long  remained  unknown  to  the  people  of 
that  nation  who  had,  as  early  as  1526,  not  only  explored  the  whole 
coast,  from  the  Mexican  Gulf  northward  to  and  beyond  the  thirty-fifth 
degree  of  latitude,  but  had  even  attempted  to  form  a  settlement  upon 
it  near  that  parallel;  considering,  moreover,  that  their, vessels,  on  their 
way  from  Mexico  and  the  West  Indies  to  Europe,  sailed  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  main  land  nearly  as  far  as  Cape  Hatteras,  before  striking  across 
the  Atlantic,  and  must  have  been  often  driven  much  farther  in  the 
same  direction.  But  without  dwelling  farther  on  these  probabilities, 
incontrovertible  evidence  will  be  offered  that  the  Chesapeake  was  known 
to  the  Spaniards  as  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  and  that  an  expedition 
had  been  made  by  them  for  its  occupation  at  least  twenty  years  before 
any  attempt  of  the  English  to  establish  themselves  on  the  American 
continent. 

This  evidence  is  thus  distinctly  presented  by  Barcia  in  his  Ensayo 
Chronologico  para  la  Historia  de  la  Florida,  so  frequently  cited  in 
these  pages.  After  relating  the  particulars  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Huguenots,  and  the  occupation  of  Florida  by  the  Spaniards  under  the 
Adelantado  Menendez,  he  proceeds  to  show  the  efforts  of  that  com 
mander  to  explore  the  coasts  and  interior  of  the  continent;  in  the 
course  of  which  he  states,  that  Menendez,  while  in  the  river  of  San 
Mateo  or  St.  John,  in  the  summer  of  1566,  "despatched  a  captain 
with  thirty  soldiers,  and  two  monks  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominick, 
to  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  which  is  in  thirty-seven  degrees  of  latitude, 
together  with  an  Indian,  brother  to  the  Cacique  of  Axacan  (whom  the 
Dominican  Fathers  had  brought  from  that  country  to  Mexico,  and  the 
viceroy  Don  Louis  de  Velasco,  had  caused  to  be  baptized  under  his 
own  name,)  an  acute  and  very  intelligent  person,  supposed  to  be  a  good 
48 


378  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [C. 

Christian,  in  order  to  make  a  settlement  there,  and  to  endeavor  to 
convert  the  people  to  Christianity." 

This  province  of  Axacan,  is  described  as  extending  northward  from 
Santa  Helena,  at  the  month  of  the  Combahee  river,  in  South  Carolina, 
where  the  Spaniards  had  already  formed  an  establishment,  maintained 
by  them  for  more  than  a  century  afterwards ;  and  it  appears  to  have 
included  the  whole  lower  parts  of  South  and  North  Carolina.  It  may  be 
observed,  that  Axacan,  as  pronounced  by  a  Spaniard,  is  scarcely  dis 
tinguishable  from  Wocokon,  the  name  of  the  place  at  the  entrance  of 
Albemarle  Sound,  where  the  English  colonists  sent  by  Raleigh  landed 
in  1585;  possibly  it  may  have  been  used  by  the  natives  as  a  general 
term  for  the  land  or  the  country.  The  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  on  which 
Menendez  thus  endeavored  to  found  a  settlement,  corresponds  in  lati 
tude,  precisely  with  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  Chesapeake ;  which  is 
traversed  by  the  thirty-seventh  parallel,  midway  between  its  two  capes. 

The  result  of  the  expedition  is  thus  related  by  Barcia: — "The  Cap 
tain  who  went  with  the  Indian  Louis  de  Velasco,  to  the  Bay  of  Santa 
Maria,  was  overcome  by  his  crew,  acting  under  the  influence  of  the 
two  monks  who,  accustomed  to  the  delights  of  Peru  and  Spain,  were 
not  inclined  to  enter  upon  a  life  of  labors,  privation  and  dangers:  and 
the  soldiers,  needing  but  little  persuasion,  to  induce  them  to  turn  back, 
made  false  depositions,  to  the  effect,  that  they  had  been  prevented  by 
storms,  from  reaching  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria.  So  they  sailed  direct 
for  Seville,  abusing  the  King  and  Adelantado  for  attempting  to  settle 
in  that  country,  of  which  they  spread  the  worst  accounts,  though  none 
of  them  had  seen  it." 

The  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  was  thus  so  well  known  to  the  Spaniards 
in  1566,  that  an  expedition  was  made  from  Florida  for  the  occupation 
of  the  country  adjacent  to  it.  The  attempt  do33  not  app3ar  to  havo 
been  repeated.  Barcia  however  mentions  it  again  as  follows : 

"In  1573,  Pedro  Monendez  Marquez,  G-overnor  of  Florida  for  his 
uncle  the  Adelantado,  reduced  many  Indian  nations  to  obedience,  and 
took  possession  of  their  provinces  for  the  king,  in  presence  of  Rodrigo 
de  Carrion,  the  notary  of  the  government  of  Santa  Helena.  Being, 
moreover,  himself  a  good  seaman,'  (he  had  been  Admiral  of  the  Fleet 
according  to  the  History  of  the  military  orders  by  Francisco  Cano,)  he 
by  order  of  the  Adelantado  examined  the  coasts,  from  the  Cape  of 
Martyrs  [Cape  Sable  the  southern  extremity  of  Florida]  and  the  pen 
insula  of  Tequesta  from  which  the  coast  begins  to  run  from  south  to 
north,  at  the  outlet  of  the  Bahama -channel,  along  the  land  in  the 
whole  length  to  and  beyond  the  Bay  and  Port  of  Santa  Maria  which 
is  3  leagues  wide,  and  is  entered  towards  the  north-northwest.  In 
this  bay,  are  many  rivers  and  harbors  on  both  sides,  in  which  vessels 
may  lie  at  anchor;  within  ity  entrance  on  the  south,  the  depth  is  from 


C.]  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    CHESAPEAKE  BAY.  879 

9  to  13  fathoms,  and  on  the  north  from  5  to  7;  at  2  leagues  from  it  in 
the  sea,  the  depth  is  the  same  on  the  north  and  south,  but  there  is 
more  sand  within.  In  the  channel,  there  are  from  9  to  13  fathoms; 
in  the  bay  15  and  16  fathoms ;  though  some  places  are  found  in  which 
no  bottom  is  reached  with  the  lead." 

Barcia  then  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  the  Governor's  voyage 
along  the  coast,  from  the  Cape  of  Martyrs  to  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria, 
as  derived  from  his  journal  or  notes,  sent  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies, 
which  was  the  only  record  of  the  exploration,  as  they  had  no  person 
capable  of  drawing  a  map,  and  the  memoir  or  official  report  had  been 
lost.  In  this  account,  after  relating  the  particulars  observed  on  the 
way  from  the  Cape  of  Martyrs  to  Santa  Helena,  Barcia  continues  thus  : 

' '  On  this  whole  coast,  from  the  Cape  of  Martyrs  to  the  Bay  of  Santa 
Maria,  when  the  tide  ebbs,  the  current  is  southward ;  and  when  it  rises, 
it  runs  to  the  north ;  and  vessels  with  good  cables  and  anchors  have 
nothing  to  fear,  because  the  sea  breeze  falls  in  the  night,  and  blows 
towards  land  in  the  day,  from  the  Port  of  Santa  Helena,  to  the  Bay 
of  Santa  Maria.  The  Governor  steered  east,  one  quarter  northeast ;  the 
route  being  east  northeast;  and  after  sailing  112  leagues,  in  water  from 
16  to  20  fathoms  deep,  he  passed  over  the  edge  of  a  shoal,  stretching 
directly  northward,  six  leagues  from  land,  the  point  of  which  is  in  34 £ 
degrees,  with  a  passage  two  fathoms  deep,  of  little  width  between  it 
and  the  land.  Continuing  towards  the  east,  one  quarter  northeast,  22 
leagues,  he  found  another  shoal,  with  a  good  passage  on  the  land-side, 
in  35  degrees,  which  runs  6  leagues  with  the  sea  at  the  distance  of  30 
leagues  from  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria.  The  coast  is  thereabouts  very 
clear,  so  that  you  may  sail  near  the  land,  and  anchor  at  a  short  dis 
tance  from  it ;  three  or  four  rivers  there  enter  the  sea,  one  of  them 
very  good,  and  three  islets  of  sand,  like  turtle  shells  or  shields,  about 
6  leagues  from  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  all  three  of  them  being  with 
in  the  space  of  a  league.  And  he  [the  Governor]  thus  went,  as  I  have 
said,  beyond  the  Port  and  Bay  of  Santa  Maria." 

This  is  all  that  is  said  by  Barcia,  of  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria;  nor 
has  anything  farther  respecting  it,  been  found  in  any  work  relating  to 
the  same  period.  Those  who  are  accustomed  to  the  examination  of  old 
narratives  of  voyages — accompanying  the  descriptions  presented  by  Bar 
cia,  with  what  is  now  known  of  the  coast  from  the  32d  to  the  38th 
degree  of  latitude — will  admit  the  correspondence  to  be  remarkable; 
and  the  authenticity  of  the  descriptions,  will  scarcely  be  doubted  ;  for  if 
Barcia  had  intended  to  claim  any  rights  or  merits  for  his  countrymen, 
which  he  does  not,  he  certainly  would  have  been  more  particular  in 
his  details.  Thus,  the  shoal  mentioned  in  the  paragraph  last  quoted, 
in  latitude  of  34£  degrees,  is  evidently  the  same,  which  runs  out  from 
Cape  Lookout  in  North  Carolina;  and  the  other  shoal  22  leagues  far- 


380  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [D. 

ther  northeast,  and  30  leagues  from  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  may  be 
identified  with  that  which  renders  the  passage  around  Cape  Hatteras 
so  much  dreaded  by  our  mariners.  Cape  Hatteras  is  34  leagues  from 
Cape  Henry  the  southern  point  of  the  entrance  to  Chesapeake  Bay ; 
and  midway  between  that  point  and  Cape  Charles  on  the  north,  the 
37th  parallel  of  latitude  passes.  Finally,  the  depth  of  the  channel  in 
the  entrance  to  the  Chesapeake,  varies  from  6  to  13  fathoms  on  the 
south  side,  being  much  shallower  on  the  north. 

It  seems  needless  to  argue  further  the  identity  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay 
with  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria,  which  is  laid  down  by  that  name  in  Span 
ish  maps,  of  date  anterior  to  the  settlement  of  Virginia.  At  what 
time  it  was  discovered,  we  do  not  learn.  Gomara  in  the  12th  chapter 
of  his  Historia  General  de  las  Iiidias,  published  in  1554,  describes  the 
whole  coast  of  the  New  World,  so  far  as  then  known ;  but  he  passes 
over  ^he  space  between  the  Cabo  de  Arenas,  near  the  39th  degree  of 
latitude — probably  Cape  May — and  a  river  situated  one  hundred  leagues 
farther  south. 


D. 

CERTIFIED  STATEMENT  OF  THE  ACT  OF  TAKING  POSSESSION  OF 
LOUISIANA,  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  MISSISSIPPI,  BY  M.  DE  LA 
SALLE,  ON  THE  9TH  OF  APRIL,  1682.* 

Jacques  de  la  Metairie,  Notary  of  Fort  Frontenac  in  New  France, 
charged  and  commissioned  to  exercise  the  same  functions  during  the 
expedition,  to  Louisiana,  in  North  America,  under  M.  de  La  Salle, 
Governor  of  Fort  Frontenac,  for  the  King,  and  commanding  in  the 
said  discovery,  by  commission  from  His  Majesty,  given  at  St.  Germain 
en  Laye  on  the  12th  of  May,  1678 — to  all  who  may  see  these  presents : 

Be  it  known,  that  having  been  required  by  M.  de  La  Salle,  to  deliver 
to  him,  a  certified  statement  signed  by  us,  and  the  witnesses  therein 
named,  of  his  having  taken  possession  of  the  country  of  Louisiana, 
near  the  three  outlets  of  the  river  Colbert  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
on  the  9th  of  April,  1682,  in  the  name  of  the  very  high,  very  power 
ful,  invincible  and  victorious  Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  by  the  Grace 

*  Since  the  preceding  pages  have  been  put  to  press,  the  author  has  obtained  a 
copy  of  the  original  of  this  document,  from  which  the  present  translation  has 
been  carefully  made.  It  will  be  found  to  differ  only  in  a  few  small  points  from  that 
of  Mr.  Sparks  appended  to  his  interesting  life  of  La  Salle;  and  it  is  here  inserted, 
principally,  for  the  sake  of  the  few  short  notes  on  more  important  points,  which 
accompany  it. 


D.] 


THE    ACT    OF    TAKING    POSSESSION    OF    LOUISIANA. 


381 


of  God,  King  of  France  and  Navarre,  the  fourteenth  of  that  name, 
and  in  the  name  of  his  heirs  and  the  successors  to  his  throne : — We  the 
notary  aforesaid,  have  delivered  the  said  certified  statement  [proces 
verbal]  to  the  said  M.  de  La  Salle,  the  tenor  of  which  is  as  follows: 

On  the  27th  of  December,  1681,  M.  de  La  Salle  set  out  on  foot  to 
join  M.  de  Tonty,  who  had  preceded  him  with  his  people  and  baggage, 
and  gone  forty  leagues  into  the  country  of  the  Niamis.  The  ice  on  the 
Chikagou  river  in  the  country  of  the  Mascoutins  however  arrested  his 
progress ;  when  the  ice  became  stronger,  he  went  on,  carrying  his 
baggage,  canoes  and  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  wounded,  on  sledges, 
the  whole  length  of  this  river,  and  on  the  Illinois,  to  the  distance  of 
seventy  leagues.  At  length,  the  French  being  all  together  on  the  25th 
of  Januarv,  1682,  we  reached  Pimiteoui  [Peoria ;]  and  thence,  the  river 
being  only  partially  frozen,  we  continued  our  journey  to  the  River 
Colbert  [Mississippi]  about  sixty  leagues  from  Pimiteoui,  and  ninety 
from  the  great  village  of  the  Illinois. 

We  reached  the  banks  of  the  river  Colbert  on  the  6th  of  February, 
and  remained  there  until  the  13th,  waiting  for  the  Indians  who  had 
been  delayed  by  the  ice.  On  the  13th,  the  whole  party  being  assem 
bled,  we  resumed  our  voyage,  being  twenty-two  French,  carrying  arms, 
and  the  Reverend  Father  Zenobe  Mambre,  a  Recollet  Missionary,  fol 
lowed  by  eighteen  savages  from  New  England,  and  several  Algonquin 
[Chippewa,]  Otchipoises  [Ojibwas  or  Chippewas,]  and  Huron  women. 

On  the  14th,  we  arrived  at  the  village  of  the  Maroas  [Cahokia,]  con 
sisting  of  a  hundred  cabins,  entirely  uninhabited.  Proceeding  about  a 
hundred  leagues  down  the  River  Colbert,  we  went  ashore  to  hunt  on 
the  26th  of  February.  There  a  Frenchman  was  lost  in  the  woods :  and 
M.  de  La  Salle,  hearing  that  a  large  body  of  savages  had  been  seen  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  thinking  that  they  might  have  seized  the  man, 
marched  through  the  woods  for  two  days,  in  search  of  them ;  but  in 
vain,  as  they  had  been  frightened  by  the  noise  of  the  guns,  and  had 
all  fled. 

Returning  to  the  camp,  M.  de  La  Salle  sent  Frenchmen  and  Indians 
in  all  directions  in  search,  with  orders  if  they  should  fall  in  with  sav 
ages,  to  take  them  alive,  so  as  to  obtain  intelligence  respecting  the 
Frenchman.  Gabriel  Barbie,  with  two  Indians,  met  five  Chickasas, 
of  whom  they  took  two.  They  were  treated  with  all  kindness  [by  M. 
de  La  Salle,]  who  explained  to  them,  that  he  was  anxious  about  a 
Frenchman,  who  had  been  lost;  and  that  they  were  only  detained  with 
the  object  of  rescuing  this  man,  if  he  should  be  in  their  hands,  and 
making  an  advantageous  peace  with  them,  as  the  French  did  good  to 
•all;  upon  which  they  assured  him,  that  they  had  not  seen  the  person, 
of  whom  we  were  in  search,  but  that  they  would  be  well  pleased  to 
have  peace  made.  Presents  were  then  given  to  them,  and  as  they  said 


382  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [D. 

that  one  of  their  villages  was  not  more  than  half  a  day's  journey  dis 
tant,  M.  de  La  Salle  set  out  for  the  place  on  the  following  day ;  but 
after  travelling  all  night,  and  finding  the  accounts  of  the  savages  in 
contradiction  with  each  other,  he  determined  to  go  no  farther,  as  he  was 
without  provisions.  Upon  pressing  the  savages  to  tell  the  truth,  they 
at  length  confessed,  that  their  village  was  four  days'  journey  farther 
distant;  and  seeing  that  M.  de  La  Salle  was  angry  at  having  been  thus 
deceived,  they  proposed  that  one  of  them  should  remain  with  him, 
while  the  other  should  carry  the  news  to  the  village,  from  which  the 
chiefs  would  come  and  join  them  at  four  days'  journey  below  that 
place.  M.  de  La  Salle  accordingly  returned  to  the  camp,  with  one  of 
these  Chickasas ;  and  the  Frenchman  of  whom  we  were  in  search  hav 
ing  been  in  the  meantime  recovered,  he  continued  his  voyage,  and 
passed  the  river  of  the  Chepontias  [the  St.  Francis]  and  the  village 
of  the  Metsigameas.  The  thickness  of  the  fog  prevented  him  from 
finding  the  passage,  whieh  led  to  the  place  appointed  for  meeting  the 
Chickasas. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  we  arrived  at  the  Kapaha  village  of  Akansa, 
where  we  made  peace  and  took  possession.  On  the  15th  we  passed 
another  of  their  towns  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  two  others  farther 
off  in  the  woods,  and  reached  that  of  the  Imahas,  the  largest  town  of 
this  nation,  where  peace  was  confirmed,  and  the  chief  acknowledged 
the  town  to  belong  to  His  Majesty.  Two  Akansas  entered  with  M.  de 
La  Salle,  to  conduct  him  to  their  allies  the  Taensas,  about  fifty  leagues 
farther  down,  dwelling  in  eight  villages  on  the  borders  of  a  small  lake. 
On  the  19th  we  passed  the  towns  of  the  Tourikas,  the  Yazoos,  and  the 
Koueras ;  but  as  they  were  not  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  were 
enemies  of  the  Akansas  and  Taensas,  we  did  not  stop. 

On  the  19th*  we  arrived  al  the  towns  of  the  Taensas,  who  received 
us  well,  and  supplied  us  with  a  large  quantity  of  provisions.  Here, 
also  peace  was  made,  as  well  as  with  the  Koroas,  whose  chief  came  to 
us  from  their  principal  village,  two  leagues  from  that  of  the  Natches. 

The  two  chiefs  accompanied  M.  de  La  Salle  to  the  banks  of  the 
river;  where  the  Koroa  chief  embarked  with  him,  and  conducted  him 
to  his  town,  where  the  peace  was  confirmed  with  that  nation,  which 
has  five  other  towns  of  its  own,  and  is  in  alliance  with  nearly  forty 
more.  On  the  31st  f  we  passed  the  towns  of  the  Houmas  without 

*  The  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Black  river,  on 
the  shore  of  a  small  lake,  now  called  Lake  St.  Joseph,  in  Taensas  county,  Louisiana, 
where  several  large  mounds  still  mark  the  site  of  the  former  towns. 

f  It  is  probable  that  some  portion  of  the  statement,  has  been  omitted  in  the  copy 
preserved  in  France ;  as  in  the  interval,  between  the  two  dates  in  this  paragraph, 
the  French  visited  the  towns  of  the  Natches,  and  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Red 
river,  which  circumstances,  the  writer  of  the  statement  would  scarcely  have  failed 
to  mention. 


D.] 


THE    ACT    OF    TAKING    POSSESSION    OF    LOUISIANA. 


383 


knowing  it,  in  consequence  of  the  thickness  of  the  fog  and  their  dis- 
stance  from  the  river. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  at  ten  in  the  morning,  we  saw  thirteen  or  four 
teen  canoes ;  and  M.  de  La  Salle  went  ashore,  with  several  men. 
Foot  prints  were  observed,  and  a  little  lower  down  some  savages  were 
found  fishing,  who  fled  precipitately  as  soon  as  they  discovered  us. 
Others  of  our  party  then  went  ashore,  on  the  borders  of  a  marsh, 
formed  by  the  inundation  of  the  river.  M.  de  La  Salle  sent  two  French 
men,  and  afterwards  two  Indians  to  observe,  who  on  their  return  stated 
that  there  was  a  town  not  far  off,  but  in  order  to  reach  it,  a  marsh 
covered  with  canes,  must  be  crossed ;  and  that  they  had  been  saluted 
with  a  shower  of  arrows  from  the  people  of  the  town,  who  not  daring 
to  attack  them  in  the  marsh,  had  fled,  though  neither  the  French  nor 
their  Indians  had  fired,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  not  to  do  so,  unless 
in  case  of  great  danger.  We  soon  after  heard  a  drudi  beat  in  the  village, 
and  shouts  and  howling,  such  as  those  barbarians  usually  make,  on 
beginning  an  attack :  we  waited  three  or  four  hours,  and  then  as  we 
neither  saw  nor  heard  any  one,  and  we  could  not  encamp  on  the  marsh, 
we  returned  to  our  boats.  An  hour  afterwards,  we  came  to  the  village 
of  Maheouala,  which  had  been  recently  destroyed,  and  contained  dead 
bodies,  and  marks  of  blood ;  and  two  leagues  farther  down,  we  encamped. 

Our  voyage  was  thus  continued  until  the  6th  of  April,  when  we 
reached  the  three  channels,  by  which  the  Colbert  discharges  its  waters 
into  the  sea ;  and  we  encamped  on  the  westernmost,  about  three  leagues 
from  its  mouth.  On  the  7th,  M.  de  La  Salle  went  down  to  examine 
the  channel  and  the  coasts  of  the  neighboring  sea,  while  M.  de  Tonty 
went  through  the  middle  channel.  These  two  outlets  having  been 
found  fine,  wide,  and  deep,  they  returned  on  the  8th,  and  discovered 
a  dry  place,  above  the  inundation,  nearly  in  the  27th  degree  of  the 
elevation  of  the  north  pole,  where  a  column  and  a  cross  were  prepared, 
and  on  the  column  were  painted  the  arms  of  France,  with  the  inscription 

"LOUIS  THE  GREAT, 
KING  OF  FRANCE  AND  NAVARRE,  APRIL  9,  1682." 

The  whole  party  being  then  under  arms,  the  Te  Deum,  the  Exaudi, 
and  the  Domine  salvum  fac  Regem,  were  sung;  after  which  M.  de  La 
Salle  erected  the  column,  amid  salutes  of  musketry,  and  shouts  of 
"Long  live  the  King,"  and  then  standing  near  it,  he  pronounced  with 
a  loud  voice — 

"By  authority  of  the  very  high,  powerful,  invincible  and  victorious 
Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  France  and 
Navarre,  the  fourteenth  of  that  name,  on  this  ninth  day  of  April,  1682, 
1,  in  virtue  of  the  commission  from  His  Majesty,  which  I  now  hold  in 
my  hand  ready  to  be  exhibited  to  whomsoever  it  may  concern,  have 


384  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [D. 

taken  and  do  hereby  take  possession,  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty,  and 
of  His  successors  to  the  throne,  of  this  country  of  Louisiana,  of  the 
seas,  harbors,  ports,  bays  and  places  adjacent,  and  of  all  the  nations, 
people,  cities,  boroughs,  villages,  mines,  fisheries,  rivers  and  streams, 
comprehended  within  the  whole  extent  of  Louisiana,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  great  river  St.  Louis  on  the  east,  otherwise  called  Ohio,* 
Olighinsipouf  or  Chukagua,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Chouaganous, 
Chickasas  and  other  nations  residing  therein,  with  whom  we  have  made 
alliance,  as  also  along  the  river  Colbert  or  Mississippi,  and  the  rivers 
thereinto  emptying  from  its  source,  beyond  the  country  of  the  Sioux  or 
Naudoessioux,  with  the  consent  of  that  nation,  and  of  the  Motantees, 
Illinois,  Metsigameas,  Natches  and  Koroas,  the  principal  nations  therein 
residing  with  whom  we  have  also  made  alliance  ourselves,  or  through 
others  acting  in  our  behalf,  as  far  as  the  place  of  its  discharge  into  the 
Sea,  or  Gulf  of  Mexfeo,  near  the  27th  degree  of  the  elevation  of  the 
north  pole,  and  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the  River  of  Palms.  Upon 
the  assurance  which  we  have  received  from  all  those  nations,  that  we 
are  the  first  Europeans,  who  have  descended  or  ascended  the  River  Col 
bert,  I  protest  against  all  who  may  hereafter  undertake  to  obtain  pos 
session  of  the  countries,  nations,  and  territories  above  specified,  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  right  acquired  by  His  Majesty,  with  the  consent  of  the 
said  nations.  Of  all  which,  so  far  as  needful,  may  be  taken  as  witnesses, 
those  who  now  hear  me ;  and  I  demand  a  certified  statement  of  the  same 
from  the  notary  here  present,  to  be  used  whenever  necessary  and  just." 
To  all  which  every  one  responded  by  shouts  of  Long  live  the  King, 
and  discharges  of  musketry.  Moreover  M.  de  La  Salle  had  buried  at 
the  foot  of  the  tree,  to  which  the  cross  was  attached,  a  leaden  plate  "hav 
ing  engraved  on  one  side,  the  arms  of  France,  with  this  inscription: 

LVDOVICVS  MAGNVS  REGNAT. 

NONO  APRILIS  CIQIOCLXXXIL 

ROBERTVS  CAVALIER,  CVM  DOMINO  DE  TONTY, 
LEGATO,  R.  P.  ZENOBIO  MEMBRE  RECOLLECTO,  ET 

VIGINTI  GALLIS,  PRIMVS,  HOC  FLVMEN  INDE 
AB  ILLINEORUM  PAGO,  ENAVIGAVIT  EJVSQVE  OSTIVM 

FECIT  PERVIVM, 
NONO  APRLIS,  ANN!  CIOIOCLXXXII.  J 

*  The  countries  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  being  considered  as  belonging  to 
New  France. 

fThis  is  the  earliest  mention  of  the  name  Allegheny,  which  has  been  found 
among  the  records  of  Europe.  See  note  on  page  191. 

t  Louis  the  Great  reigns.  April  9,  1682.  Robert  Cavelier,  with  M.  de  Tonty 
his  lieutenant,  the  Reverend  Father  Zenobe  Mambre  a  Recollet,  and  twenty  French 
men,  first  sailed  down  this  river,  from  the  village  of  the  Illinois  to  this  place,  and 
passed  through  its  mouth,  on  the  ninth  of  April,  1682. 


E. 


EXPEDITION  OF  ALONZO  DE  LEON. 


385 


After  which  M.  de  La  Salle  declared,  that  as  His  Majesty  being  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Church,  would  not  acquire  any  countries  for  his  crown, 
in  which  his  principal  care  should  not  be  directed  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Christian  religion,  it  was  proper  to  plant  the  marks  of  that 
religion  here ;  and  this  was  immediately  done,  by  erecting  a  cross, 
before  which  the  Vexilla  and  the  Domine  salvum  fac  Regem,  were 
chaunted ;  whereupon  the  ceremony  was  ended  by  shouts  of  Long  live 
the  King. 

Of  which,  and  of  all  here  above  stated,  the  said  M.  de  La,  Salle 
having  demanded  from  us  a  certified  statement,  we  delivered  it  to  him, 
signed  by  us,  and  by  the  undersigned  witnesses,  on  this  9th  of  April, 
1682. 

De  La  Salle;  F.  Zenobe,  Recollet  missionary;  Henri  de  Tonty; 
Francois  de  Boisrondet ;  Jean  Bourdon ;  D' Autray ;  Jacques  Cau- 
chois;  Pierre  Yon;  Gilles  Meneret;  Jean  Michel,  Surgeon;  Jean 
Mas ;  Jean  Du  Lignon  ;  Nicolas  de  la  Salle. 

LA  METAIRIE,  Notary. 


E. 


EXPEDITION  OF  ALONZO   DE'  LEON  TO  THE   BAY  OF  ST.   Louis 

IN  1689. 

Journal  of  the  Expedition  made  by  General  Alonzo  de  Leon, 
for  the  discovery  of  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  and  the 
French  Settlement*  in  the  year  1689.* 

On  Wednesday,  the  23d  of  March,  1689,  it  was  determined,  that 
the  soldiers  and  people  collected  at  Coahuila,  should  take  their  depar 
ture  ;  and  they  accordingly  marched  one  league  down  the  river. 

Thursday  24th— The  General  set  out,  and  finding  the  troops  about 
to  march  down  the  river,  he  went  on  the  other  side  to  its  junction  with 
the  Nadadores.  Marched  this  day  6  leagues  northward,  through  a  flat 
and  uninhabitable  country. 

Friday  25th — Continued  down  the  Nadadores  on  the  south  side, 
passing  between  two  mountains,  called  the  Baluartes.  We  stopped 
on  the  banks  of  that  river,  near  a  large  poplar,  the  only  tree  seen  by 

#  The  Journal  of  Alonzo  de  Leon  has  never  before  been  published  in  any  lan 
guage.  The  present  translation  has  been  made  by  the  author  of  this  history,  from 
a  manuscript  copy  of  the  original.  A  large  portion  of  it  is  unimportant;  the 
author  however,  after  some  hesitation,  concluded  that  it  should  be  given  without 
any  omission  or  alteration. 
49 


386  PROOFS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  [E 

us  in  a  long  distance.     Marched  7  leagues  northeastward,  through  a 
level  country  with  good  pasture. 

Saturday  26th — Marched  down  the  river  as  before,  to  its  junction  with 
the  Rio  de  Sabinas,  at  one  league  from  which  we  halted.  The  road 
is  level  with  good  pasture  in  its  vincinity.  Distance  this  day  6  leagues 
towards  the  east. 

Sunday  27th — Continued  down  the  river,  and  crossing  to  its  northern 
side,  we  marched  along  its  bank,  and  met  the  soldiers  arriving  from 
the  kingdom  of  New  Leon,  to  join  us  at  the  place  appointed.  We 
united  with  salutes  of  musketry,  on  both  sides,  and  made  an  enumera 
tion  of  the  soldiers,  muleteers,  and  others,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  list. 
We  marched  3  leagues  eastward. 

Monday  28th — Proceeded  6  leagues  towards  the  northeast,  crossing 
some  plains,  in  which  was  no  water.  The  march  was  painful,  though 
the  ground  was  level.  Halted  at  a  pond  of  rain  water. 

Tuesday  29th — Took  a  direction  northeast,  quarter  north,  and  went 
5  leagues  through  a  country  generally  level,  but  with  some  small  low 
hills. 

Wednesday  30th — Went  4  leagues  towards  the  north.  Before  day 
the  French  prisoner  sent  an  Indian,  in  whom  he  could  confide,  on  before,, 
to  give  notice  of  our  approach  to  his  tribe;  before  reaching  which,  more 
than  60  Indians  came  to  meet  us,  some  with  arms  and  others  without 
them,  and  conducted  us  to  their  dwelling  place.  Here  they  had  pre 
pared  a  tent  of  buffalo  skins  for  the  Frenchman,  whom  they  treated 
with  great  respect;  in  front  of  it,  a  stake  was  erected,  about  four  varas 
high,  on  which  were  16  skulls  of  Indians,  their  enemies  whom  they 
had  killed.  Five  nations  were  there  collected,  according  to  the  account 
of  the  Frenchman,  namely  Hapes,  Jumenes,  Xialis,  Mexcales  and 
another.  We  counted  85  tents.  Some  cords,  shells,  beads,  rosaries, 
knives,  and  arms  were  distributed  among  them,  to  their  great  delight; 
and  five  head  of  cattle  were  killed,  of  which  they  all  ate.  They  were 
in  all  490  persons.  We  halted  at  a  rivulet  about  dark. 

Thursday  31st — We  were  obliged  to  remain  at  this  place,  from  the 
sickness  of  our  horses,  caused  by  the  previous  want  of  water. 

Friday  1st — Marched  5  leagues  down  the  river,  crossing  some  low 
hills.  There  was  no  want  of  water.  Our  course  lay  for  the  most  part 
northward.  We  halted  and  encamped  on  the  river  [Rio  Bravo]  opposite 
the  fording  place.  The  river  was  found  fordable.  We  carried  with  us 
an  Indian,  who  assured  us  that  he  knew  the  whole  country,  and  would 
lead  us  where  some  men  like  ourselves  were  settled,  in  six  or  seven 
houses,  at  the  distance  of  about  six  days'  journey,  from  the  said  Rio 
Bravo.  This  Indian  is  a  savage,  but  we  learned  his  meaning  tolerably 
well,  through  the  interpretation  of  another  Indian. 

Saturday  2d — We  crossed  the  river,  and  went  northward  one  league, 


E. 


EXPEDITION    OF    AXONZO    DE    LEON. 


387 


in  order  to  turn  some  gullies  and  hills ;  then  marched  northeastward, 
about  5  leagues,  to  some  ponds  which  we  called  Los  Cuervos  because 
we  saw  more  than  3000  crows  on  them  at  sun  set.  The  ground  was 
level  and  free  from  hills. 

Sunday  3d — Went  3  leagues  eastward,  over  level  country,  and  2 
more  over  small  hills,  covered  with  mezquite  bushes.  Passed  some 
beds  of  streams,  without  water,  and  having  at  length  found  a  rivulet, 
we  stopped  there,  having  gone  in  all  5  long  leagues  to-day.  We  gave 
the  name  of  Arroyo  de  Ramos  to  the  rivulet,  in  honor  of  the  day, 
which  is  Palm  Sunday  (Domingo  de  Ramos.)  Here  we  observed  the 
altitude  of  the  sun,  with  an  astrolabe,  which  is  very  defective,  and 
found  it  to  be  26  degrees  31  minutes;  the  tables  on  which  the  calcula 
tion  was  made,  were  however  constructed  before  the  Gregorian  correc 
tion,  made  in  1582,  when  the  equinox  was  on  the  10th  of  March ;  and 
following  the  ephermeris  of  Andrea  Argoli,  the  Roman,  who  places  the 
equinox  this  year,  on  the  20th  of  March,  we  find  from  these  tables, 
that  the  3d  of  April,  corresponds  with  the  24th  of  March  of  this  year, 
the  first  after  the  Bissextile.  These  tables,  the  author  says,  were  taken 
from  the  Art  of  Navigation,  by  Maestro  Medina.  We  are  obliged  to 
state  these  reasons,  because  if  there  be  any  error,  it  arises  from  our 
want  of  modern  tables. 

Monday  4th — Marched  for  the  greater  part  of  this  day  towards  the 
northeast,  and  for  a  short  time  to  the  north,  in  all  8  leagues.  The 
first  part  of  the  march  was  through  a  level  country,  after  which  we 
found  a  small  grove  of  mezquite  shrubs  and  on  quitting  it  we  entered 
another,  3  leagues  in  breadth.  We  then  reached  a  river,  which  though 
then  having  little  water,  we  saw  in  the  rainy  season  must  overflow  its 
banks,  to  the  breadth  of  half  a  league.  We  named  it  the  Nueces, 
from  the  abundance  of  nut  trees  near  it;*  its  bed  is  very  rocky,  con 
taining  a  number  of  flint  stones,  some  of  them  very  fine. 

Tuesday  5th — We  crossed  the  river,  after  going  about  half  a  league 
along  its  bank,  and  entered  a  defile,  beyond  which  was  a  forest,  so 
thick,  that  we  were  obliged  to  dismount,  and  cut  a  road  a  league  in 
length,  through  the  prickly  pears  and  mezquite  bushes.  Our  course 
was  eastward.  We  then  entered  a  mezquite  forest,  through  which 
we  were  obliged  to  make  our  way  dismounted ;  and  we  at  length  reached 
a  river,  which  we  named  Rio  Sarco — Blue  river — from  the  bluish  tint 
of  its  waters.  The  distance  travelled  to-day  was  7  leagues  in  a  very 
indirect  course. 

Wednesday  6th — We  went  about  3  leagues  northeastward,  and  2  east 
ward,  through  a  country  generally  level  with  fine  pasturage,  inter 
spersed  with  pleasant  valleys,  and  some  groves  of  oak.  We  then 

*The  pecan-nut,  or  carya  oliviformis. 


388  PROOFS    AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  [E. 

reached  a  river,  named  by  us  Rio  Hondo — Deep  river — because  the 
banks  rise  on  each  side  more  than  six  or  seven  fathoms ;  near  it  on 
both  sides,  are  some  small  hills,  for  the  most  part  covered  with  wood. 
The  water  was  excellent,. and  the  horses  drank  it  with  avidity.  In  the 
bed  of  the  river,  we  found  some  large  white  stones,  on  some  of  which 
crosses  and  other  figures  were  cut,  by  the  hand  of  man,  with  great  per 
fection  and  apparently  long  ago. 

Holy  Thursday  7th — We  travelled  down  the  Rio  Hondo,  without 
crossing  it  about  4  leagues,  sometimes  eastward  and  at  others  south-east 
ward,  and  we  halted  on  its  left  bank.  The  water  is  of  the  same  quality 
as  above;  and  the  country  generally  level,  with  occasional  groves  of 
inezquite.  Although  since  the  30th  of  March  when  we  left  the  habi 
tation  of  the  five  nations  of  Indians,  we  had  seen  many  traces  of  the 
natives,  they  all  appeared  to  be  of  old  date,  and  we  met  not  a  single 
person. 

Good  Friday  8th — We  crossed  the  Rio  Hondo,  and  followed  it  down 
in  a  direction  east,  one  quarter  northeast.  We  found  on  the  way  two 
defiles  near  together,  which  appeared  to  be,  in  the  rainy  season,  covered 
with  water  to  the  depth  of  more  than  a  fathom;  we  then  reached  a 
stream,  in  order  to  cross  which,  with  the  loaded  mules,  it  was  neces 
sary  to  go  a  little  out  of  our  course ;  and  then  the  passage  was  effected 
with  difficulty,  on  account  of  the  mud,  in  which  some  of  the  mules 
were  stuck.  We  then  came  to  a  clear  country,  after  which  was  a  forest 
of  large  inezquite  trees,  with  some  pools  of  water;  and  there  we  halted, 
having  marched  8  long  leagues  eastward. 

Saturday  9th — We  took  our  course  towards  the  north,  through  some 
forests,  which  obliged  us  to  deviate  to  the  north,  one  quarter  north 
east,  and  more  eastward.  The  ground  was  very  good  for  travelling. 
We  crossed  the  bed  of  a  rivulet,  without  water,  and  a  league  farther, 
we  found  another  with  water,  which  was  very  good,  and  good  pasture 
near  it.  Many  small  fish  were  taken  in  this  rivulet,  which  we  named 
Arroyo  del  Vino,  as  we  this  day  opened  a  barrel  of  wine,  and  divided 
it  among  the  men.  We  marched  this  day  5  leagues.  We  found  under 
the  trees  quantities  of  large  nuts,  resembling  those  of  Spain,  but  more 
difficult  to  open;  also  many  wild  grapes,  which  the  Indians  assured  us, 
were  at  the  proper  season,  large  and  excellent.  At  this  place,  our 
horses  ran  off  about  midnight,  notwithstanding  15  soldiers  were  on 
guard,  and  we  were  unable  to  find  all  of  them  *  as  on  the  following 
day,  the  whole  number  counted  was  only  102  horses. 

Easter  Sunday,  10th — Soldiers  were  sent  in  various  directions,  in 
search  of  the  horses  which  were  not  brought  in,  until  the  hour  of  prayer. 
We  therefore  went  no  farther  on  this  day;  and  on  observing  the  eleva 
tion  of  the  pole  we  found  it  to  be  27  degrees  55  minutes. 

Easter  Monday,  llth — Marched  towards  the  east,  crossing  two  rivu- 


E.]  EXPEDITION  OF  ALONZO  DE  LEON.  389 

lots  of  good  water,  and  then  a  forest  of  oaks  and  nut  trees,  for  more 
than  5  leagues.  We  then  reached  a  river  which  though  wide  had  very- 
little  water  in  it,  and  could  be  forded  without  difficulty.  "We  named 
it  the  Medina;  its  banks  are  nine  or  ten  fathoms  high.  Our  course 
this  day,  was  for  half  the  distance  east,  and  the  other  half  northeast, 
through  forests  of  oak  and  nut  trees. 

Tuesday  12th — We  crossed  the  river  by  a  very  good  ford,  and  follow 
ed  it  clown  in  an  eastern  direction,  five  leagues  over  low  hills  without 
wood,  passing  some  .gullies  of  red  or  yellow  clay.  We  then  entered 
a  forest  of  niezquites,  and  found  water  in  a  stream,  the  first  portion  of 
which  being  dry,  we  supposed  that  our  guide  had  misled  us.  The 
country  hereabouts  is  very  good  for  pasturage;  and  as  we  found  the 
carcass  of  a  lion  near  the  stream  we  named  it  Arroyo  del  Leon.* 

Thursday  14th — We  marched  towards  the  east,  one  quarter  north 
east,  in  search  of  a  large  river,  which  our  guide  told  us  that  we  should 
find ;  and  we  reached  it,  at  night,  after  going  6  leagues.  Three  quarters 
of  the  way  lay  over  hills,  and  the  remainder  through  a  rough  country, 
crossed  by  many  gullies,  which  obliged  us  often  to  dismount,  in  order 
to  get  over  them.  The  country  was  the  most  pleasant,  which  we  had 
seen ;  the  river  is  not  large,  and  was  forded  with  ease,  and  its  banks 
are  covered  with  trees.  On  the  way,  we  killed  six  buffaloes,  the  first 
seen  in  a  distance  of  more  than  100  leagues.  We  gave  to  this  river 
the  name  of  Nuestra  Seiiora  de  Guadalupe,  in  honor  of  our  protectress 
and  mediatrix,  whose  representation  we  carried  painted  on  our  standard. 

Friday  15th — In  the  morning  it  was  raining,,  but  we  set  out,  and  ford 
ed  the  river  at  a  place  about  a  league  from  our  encampment ;  and  as  the 
rain  increased,  we  stopped  at  a  rivulet  near  by,  going  only  2  leagues 
on  this  day.  A  council  of  war  was  then  held,  in  consequence  of  our 
guide's  having  said  that  we  were  near  the  settlement  of  the  French ; 
and  it  was  determined  that  the  Governor  should  set  out  on  the  follow 
ing  day,  with  70  men,  to  reconnoitre,  leaving  the  remainder  of  the  forces 
encamped  at  a  place  a  little  farther  on,  where  they  were  to  keep  oh 
their  guard. 

Saturday  16th — Agreeably  to  the  resolution  taken  yesterday,  the 
Governor  set  out  with  60  soldiers  well  provided,  after  a  mass  had  been 
said  to  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe,  with  all  solemnity:  the  remainder  of 
the  party  set  out  at  the  same  time.  After  marching  3  leagues,  an 
Indian  was  seen  on  a  hill  in  front ;  and  being  taken  and  brought  to  the 
Governor,  he  declared  that  his  village  was  near,  and  that  four  French 
men  were  in  it.  We  hastened  on,  having  sent  back  orders,  that 
the  others  should  stop  where  they  were.  Before  we  reached  the  vil- 

*  The  same  now  called  the  San  Antonio ;  the  latter  name  ->vii  3  applied  by  the 
Spaniards  only  to  the  small  branch  on  which  the  town  of  Bexar  is  situated. 


890  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [E. 

lage,  the  whole  of  its  inhabitants  had  fled,  and  we  saw  them  running 
into  a  wood,  carrying  with  them  eight  or  ten  dogs,  laden  with  buffalo 
skins.  We  sent  the  Indian  whom  we  had  encountered,  to  invite  them 
to  return,  and  he  succeeded  in  bringing  back  several;  but  we  were  as 
sured  that  the  Frenchmen  were  not  there,  and  had  gone  four  days  before, 
towards  the  Texas.  At  this  village  we  met  two  Indians,  who  told  us, 
that  at  the  distance  of  two  days  journey  farther,  we  should  find  those 
of  whom  we  were  in  search.  We  treated  these  Indians  kindly,  and 
gave  them  presents,  such  as  tobacco,  knives  and  other  articles,  in  order 
to  induce  them  to  guide  us,  as  they  did,  directing  our  course  towards 
the  north,  until  sunset,  when  we  reached  a  village  of  more  than  250 
souls.  Here  we  obtained  farther  information  respecting  the  French 
men  through  the  aid  of  the  French  prisoner,  as  our  interpreter;  we 
learnt  that  these  men  had  gone  towards  the  Texas  four  days  before,  and 
that  others  of  the  same  nation  who  settled  on  the  little  Sea — as  they 
called  the  Bay — had  all  died  by  the  hands  of  the  Indians  on  the  coast ; 
that  those  people  had  six  houses  in  which  they  lived ;  and  that  their 
destruction  took  place  three  moons  ago,  before  which,  the  greater  part 
of  them  had  died  of  small  pox.  On  this  day,  the  camp  moved  east 
ward  3  leagues,  and  stopped  at  the  place  assigned  by  the  Governor, 
who  with  the  sixty  went  on  towards  the  north. 

Sunday  17th — We  stopped  to  sleep  at  the  Indian  village,  and  then 
continued  our  march  towards  the  north.  After  going  5  leagues,  we 
reached  some  Indian  villages,  with  which  our  French  prisoner  was  ac 
quainted  ;  and  we  there  learned  the  direction  taken  by  the  four  French 
men  with  some  accuracy :  they  had  gone  on  horseback  four  days  before 
towards  the  Texas.  We  here  entered  into  a  consultation  as  to  what 
should  be  done,  as  the  camp  was  now  some  distance  behind,  and  the 
country  was  unknown ;  and  it  was  resolved  that  a  letter  should  be  writ 
ten  to  the  said  Frenchmen,  which  an  Indian  was  to  deliver  to  them ; 
and  a  letter  was  accordingly  written  in  French  by  Ensign  Francisco 
Martinez,  stating  in  substance,  that  having  had  reason  to  believe  that 
the  Indians  on  that  coast  had  killed  some  Christians,  and  they  had 
escaped,  they  might  come  to  us,  as  we  should  wait  for  them  3  or  4 
days  at  this  place,  where  their  settlement  had  been.  This  letter  was 
signed  by  the  Governor;  and  our  Chaplain  Friar  Damian  Masaret,  of 
the  order  of  Our  Father  St.  Francis,  added  to  it  some  lines  in  Latin, 
supposing  that  one  of  them  might  be  a  priest,  exhorting  them  to  come  to 
us ;  and  having  enclosed  in  it  some  paper  for  an  answer,  it  was  carried 
away  by  an  Indian,  who  assured  us  that  it  should  be  delivered  to  them. 
About  the  time  of  prayer,  an  Indian  came  to  us  from  the  north,  who  on 
being  examined  through  the  French  prisoner  as  to  the  distance  from  this 
place  to  the  Texas  country,  answered  that  it  was  not  many  days' journey 
off,  and  that  the  four  Frenchmen  had  passed  his  village  3  days  since. 


E.]  EXPEDITION  OF  ALONZO  DE  LEON.  391 

Monday  18th — Considering  the  danger  to  which  the  camp  might  be 
exposed  (though  it  had  been  left  well  garrisoned,)  we  set  out  towards 
it.  On  the  way  the  Governor  received  a  letter  to  the  effect,  that  the 
cattle  had  ran  off  on  the  preceding  night,  and  more  than  100  horses 
had  escaped,  of  which  some  had  been  retaken,  but  36  were  still  want 
ing.  We  continued  our  journey  to  the  camp,  where  on  arriving,  we 
learned  furthermore,  that  a  soldier  had  been  lost,  while  looking  for  the 
horses,  and  several  parties  of  soldiers  were  gone  in  various  directions 
in  quest  of  him ;  he  did  not  reappear  this  day. 

Tuesday  19th — As  neither  the  soldier  nor  the  horses  reappeared,  two 
parties  of  soldiers  were  sent  out  in  different  directions ;  the  Governor 
himself  moreover  went  out  in  person,  and  though  every  effort  was 
made,  they  were  not  found  on  this  day;  so  that  we  remained  encamped 
here,  in  order  to  continue  the  search.  Meanwhile  Indians  came  to  us 
from  various  villages,  whom  we  regaled  with  tobacco  and  other  things, 
and  charged  them  to  join  in  the  search  for  the  soldier  and  the  horses 
missing,  promising  to  reward  them  for  it. 

Wednesday  20th — The  camp  remained  stationary,  as  neither  the 
soldier  nor  the  horses  appeared,  though  the  same  measures  were  repeated 
of  sending  out  parties  in  search  of  them.  After  the  last  party  had 
gone,  the  missing  man  came  in,  guided  by  nine  Indians;  he  had  slept 
on  the  night  before,  in  an  Indian  cabin,  where  he  feared  that  they  in 
tended  to  kill  him,  and  he  accordingly  quitted  it ;  he  was  much  con 
gratulated  on  his  good  luck,  in  escaping  from  the  hands  of  those  bar 
barians.  On  this  day  finding  that  our  astrolabe  had  been  injured,  we 
repaired  it  as  well  as  we  could,  and  took  an  observation  of  the  sun  from 
which  we  calculated  our  position  to  be  in  latitude  of  28  degrees  and 
41  minutes. 

Thursday  21st — We  set  out  with  the  whole  camp  marching  towards 
the  east,  and  sometimes  turning  one  quarter  towards  northeast,  and 
northeast,  one  quarter  north,  through  wide  plains,  often  without  seeing 
any  trees  in  a  great  distance.  We  thus  went  8  leagues,  to  a  stream 
of  good  water,  on  the  banks  of  which  our  guide  told  us,  that  the  French 
settlement  stood  not  far  off.  The  whole  country  was  agreeable,  and 
we  met  many  buffaloes. 

Friday  22d — Although  it  was  raining  when  day  broke,  as  the  site 
of  the  French  settlement  was  near,  we  marched  with  the  whole  camp, 
and  at  the  distance  of  three  leagues  down  the  stream  we  found  the 
place.  After  pitching  our  camp,  a  musket  shot  off  from  the  spot,  we 
went  to  it  and  there  found  all  the  houses  robbed,  boxes  broken  open, 
bottles  and  other  articles  thrown  about  and  more  than  two  hundred 
books  apparently  in  the  French  language,  torn  in  pieces  with  their  leaves 
rotten,  strewed  over  the  yard.  Every  thing  showed  that  the  aggressors 
had  sacked  the  place  completely;  this  being  proved  not  only  by  the 


392  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [E. 

state  in  which  we  found  it,  but  also  from  our  having  seen  in  the  villages 
passed  on  our  way  hither,  many  books  in  the  French  language,  in  good 
condition,  and  other  trifles  of  little  value,  which  were  purchased  and 
brought  away  by  us  as  memorials. 

The  Indians  committed  this  destruction  not  only  on  the  furniture, 
and  other  articles  of  that  kind,  but  also  on  the  arms;  as  we  found  more 
than  a  hundred  musket-stocks,  without  locks  or  barrels,  which  latter 
must  have  been  carried  away,  as  we  supposed  from  finding  only  one 
barrel.  At  some  distance  from  the  houses,  were  three  dead  bodies, 
which  had  been  dragged  thither :  one  of  them  seemed  to  bo  that  of  a 
woman,  from  a  part  of  the  dress  adhering  to  the  corpse.  They  were 
taken  up,  and  buried  with  a  mass,  in  presence  of  the  party. 

The  principal  building  in  the  establishment,  was  made  of  wood  taken 
from  a  ship,  and  was  in  form  of  a  fort,  with  a  roof  of  boards,  and  an 
other  inclined  to  carry  off  the  rain.  Near  and  adjoining  it,  was  another 
house,  less  strongly  built,  which  seemed  to  have  served  as  a  chapel, 
for  saying  mass.  The  other  five  houses  were  made  of  piles,  lined  with 
in,  and  covered  as  well  as  the  roof,  with  buffalo  hides,  but  were  all 
utterly  useless  for  defence.  Near  the  fort  and  houses,  were  found  eight 
pieces  of  iron  artillery  of  middle  size,  carrying  balls  of  from  four  to  six 
pounds,  three  very  old  swivels  without  chambers,  and  some  iron  bars 
and  bolts,  all  weighing,  about  a  hundred  arrobas.  The  cannon  were 
some  of  them  lying  on  the  ground,  the  others  on  their  carriages,  which 
were  however  broken.  Some  barrels  were  found  with  the  heads  knocked 
in;  and  every  thing  had  been  so  completely  sacked,  that  nothing  of 
any  use  could  be  obtained. 

We  searched  carefully  for  other  dead  bodies,  but  none  were  discov 
ered;  from  which  we  concluded,  that  they  had  been  thrown  into  the 
water  and  eaten  by  the  alligators. 

The  settlement  was  made  in  a  good  position,  well  adapted  for  defence 
in  any  event.  Over  the  principal  door  of  the  fort,  was  inscribed  the 
date  of  its  establishment  1684,  with  other  particulars,  which  were  noted 
down,  in  the  description  of  the  place,  specially  drawn  up. 

On  this  day,  we  marched  3  leagues  towards  the  east ;  which  added 
to  the  preceding  distances,  make  136  leagues  from  Coahuila  to  this 
place. 

EXPLORATION  OF  THE  BAY  AND  PORT  OF  ESPIRITU  SANTO. 

Saturday  23d  of  April,  1689— We  set  out  with  30  men,  to  examine 
the  bay  towards  the  south,  following  the  small  streams  down  from  the 
settlement,  and  carrying  with  us  as  a  guide,  the  French  prisoner,  who 
said  that  he  had  gone  over  the  whole  of  it  in  a  boat.  With  this  as 
surance,  we  followed  him,  but  he  did  not  continue  down  the  stream,  as 
he  told  us  that  there  was  no  passage  in  that  direction ;  so  we  went  5 


E.]  EXPEDITION  OF  ALONZO  DE  LEOX.  393 

leagues  towards  the  southwest,  and  having  crossed  the  heads  of  two 
streams,  we  turned  to  the  east,  and  marched  3  leagues  farther,  until 
we  reached  the  shore  of  the  bay,  where  we  slept  as  it  was  then  night. 

Sunday  24th — We  set  out  early,  and  marched  along  the  shore  of  the 
bay,  in  which  the  tide  was  then  low.  Near  it  are  many  lagoons  of 
salt  water  which  in  some  places  were  so  muddy  as  to  prevent  us  from 
passing  on  horseback,  and  we  were  obliged  to  walk  on  foot  and  lead  the 
horses.  One  arm  of  the  bay,  .which  seemed  to  us  the  largest,  ran  to- 
words  the  north ;  the  other  and  smaller  towards  the  south,  and  the 
smallest  of  the  three,  towards  the  French  settlement  above  mentioned. 
We  marched  8  leagues  along  the  shore  until  it  pleased  God  that  we 
descried  the  mouth,  at  the  distance  of  two  leagues,  which  was  as  near 
as  we  could  go  to  it  with  our  horses;  and  in  token  of  joy,  we  fired  a 
salute,  the  French  prisoner  assuring  us,  that  it  was  the  same  entrance 
and  port,  by  which  he  entered,  when  he  came  to  these  countries,  with 
Monsieur  Felipe  de  Sal.* 

This  entrance,  so  far  as  we  could  see  and  learn,  is  2  short  leagues 
in  width;  in  it  is  a  low  island  or  bank  of  sand,  which  is  nearer  to  the 
land,  on  the  side  towards  Vera  Cruz  than  on  the  side  towards  Florida, 
and  through  the  narrower  entrance,  the  vessels  come  in,  according  to 
the  account  of  the  French  prisoner.  Into  this  bay,  on  the  south  enters 
the  river  named  by  us  in  honor  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe,  which  we 
could  not  reach  from  the  impossibility  of  crossing  to  its  mouth  ;  though 
we  were  certain  that  it  must  end  there,  from  the  accounts  of  the  French 
man,  and  from  its  direction,  as  observed  when  we  crossed  it.  The 
arm  of  the  bay  running  to  the  north,  is  so  long,  that  we  could  not  see 
the  land  beyond  it  in  that  direction.  On  the  shore  of  the  bay,  which 
we  followed  for  about  8  leagues,  we  saw  a  large  mast  of  a  ship,  a  top 
gallant  mast,  a  capstan  ana  some  planks,  barrel  staves,  and  other  pieces 
of  wood,  all  apparently  belonging  to  some  vessel,  which  had  been 
wrecked  in  the  bay  or  on  the  coast,  near  its  entrance.  Having  ex 
amined  the  entrance  of  the  bay,  we  returned  by  the  same  route,  and 
slept  on  the  banks  of  a  small  rivulet,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  near  an 
Indian  village,  recently  deserted,  in  which  we  found  a  French  book,  a 
broken  bottle,  and  other  things  showing  that  the  people  had  taken  part 
in  the  destruction  of  the  French.  The  water  of  this  stream,  was  rather 
brackish ;  we  found  in  it  four  canoes. 

Monday  25th — We  came  to  the  camp,  where  we  found  an  answer 
to  the  letter,  written  to  the  Frenchmen,  who  had  gone  towards  the 
Texas.  It  was  read  by  the  royal  standard-bearer,  and  said  in  sub 
stance — that  they  would  in  two  days  come  where  we  where ;  as  they 
were  tired  of  wandering  among  barbarians ;  it  was  written  in  ochre, 

*  Franciso  de  La  Salle  ? 
50 


394  PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  [E. 

and  bore  only  one  signature,  that  of  Jean  Larcheveque  of  Bayonne. 
In  our  exploration  of  the  bay,  in  going  and  returning  we  went  about 
52  leagues. 

EXPLORATION  OF  THE  RIVER  OF  SAN  MARCOS. 

Tuesday,  April  26th — It  was  determined  that  we  should  go  with  the 
whole  camp  in  the  direction  from  which  we  came,  as  the  brackish  water 
of  this  stream  did  not  agree  with  the  horses ;  and  we  accordingly  went 
3  leagues  up  the  stream,  and  encamped  again  at  the  same  place  which 
we  had  before  occupied.  We  then  set  out,  twenty  in  number,  towards 
the  south,  and  at  the  distance  of  3  leagues,  we  reached  a  large  river, 
which  as  the  French  prisoner  told  us,  enters  into  the  bay.  We  followed 
it  down  along  the  bank,  until  we  met  with  some  lagoons,  which  im 
peded  our  progress;  it  is  very  large,  larger  we  believe  than  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  we  concluded  that  it  might  be  navigated  by  a  small  vessel. 
We  therefore  determined  to  trace  it  to  its  entrance  into  the  bay,  what 
ever  difficulties  we  might  encounter,  as  the  distance  seemed  to  be  about 
three  quarters  of  a  league,  and  there  did  not  appear  to  be  more,  from 
that  point  to  the  entrance  of  the  stream,  on  which  the  French  made 
their  settlement,  about  a  league  and  a  half  from  the  bay.  We  marched 
this  day  about  15  leagues.  We  observed  the  altitude  of  the  sun,  on 
the  shore  of  the  bay,  and  found  it  to  be  26  degrees  3  minutes,  making 
allowances  for  error,  on  account  of  the  defective  state  of  the  astrolabe. 
We  gave  to  the  river  the  name  of  San  Marcos,  as  we  discovered  it  on 
the  day  after  that  of  St.  Mark.* 

RETURN  TO  Co  AHULL  A. 

Wednesday,  April  27th — We  set  out  with  the  whole  party,  and  stop 
ped  at  some  ponds,  near  a  hill  on  the  wayside. 

Thursday  28th — We  continued  our  journey.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Governor  with  30  men  took  his  course  northward,  in  search  of  the 
Frenchmen,  from  whom  he  had  received  the  letter.  The  camp  was 
pitched  on  the  River  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe. 

On  Friday  29th  and  Saturday  30th  the  camp  remained  at  the  same 
place. 

Sunday,  May  1st — About  prayer  time,  the  Governor  arrived  with  his 
men,  accompanied  by  two  Frenchmen,  marked  and  painted  like  Indians, 
whom  he  had  met  about  25  leagues  beyond  the  place,  from  which  the 
camp  had  been  removed.  One  of  these  men  was  Jean,  the  writer  of 
the  letter,  the  other  was  named  Jacques  Grollet,  a  native  of  Rochelle : 
they  gave  the  following  account  of  the  destruction  of  their  country- 

*  It  is  now  called  the  Colorado  ;  it  enters  the  bay  in  the  latitude  of  28  degrees 
46  minutes.  The  River  Brazos  was  at  first  called  Colorado  by  the  Spaniards. 


K] 


EXPEDITION  OF  ALONZO  DE  LEON. 


395 


men.  It  was  begun  by  the  small  pox,  which  carried  off  more  than  a 
hundred  persons ;  the  remainder  having  always  lived  in  good  under 
standing  with  the  Indians  of  the  country,  apprehended  nothing  from 
them,  until  a  little  more  than  a  month  previous,  when  five  Indians 
came  to  the  settlement,  under  pretence  of  selling  some  articles,  and 
were  lodged  in  the  outermost  house ;  they  were  there  joined  by  others, 
coming  with  the  same  apparent  object,  and  the  French  suspecting 
nothing,  allowed  them  to  pass  freely  through  the  whole  place.  The 
number  of  the  Indians  thus  gradually  increased  ;  and  at  length,  a  large 
body  of  savages,  suddenly  rushed  from  the  banks  of  the  stream,  where 
they  had  secreted  themselves,  and  attacking  the  French,  put  them  all 
to  death,  including  two  friars  and  a  priest,  with  knives  and  clubs,  after 
which  they  sacked  the  buildings.  The  Frenchmen  who  related  the 
circumstances,  were  themselves  absent  at  the  time,  having  gone  to  the 
Texas  country;  on  receiving  the  news  of  what  had  happened,  four  of 
them  went  together  to  the  place,  where  they  found  their  companions 
dead,  and  they  buried  fourteen  of  them,  and  set  fire  to  about  a  hundred 
bar-rels  of  gunpowder,  in  order  to  prevent  the  Indians  from  carrying 
it  away.  They  said  that  the  place  was  well  provided  with  fire  arms, 
swords  and  daggers,  and  contained  three  chalices  and  other  ornamented 
articles,  with  many  books  beautifully  bound. 

The  said  Frenchmen  were  marked  on  the  face  like  Indians,  and 
wrapped  in  skins  of  deer  and  buffalo.  They  were  found  in  the  village 
of  the  chief  of  the  Texas,  who  took  great  care  of  them,  and  supported 
them.  He  came  with  them  to  the  camp,  and  was  well  treated;  and 
though  only  a  wild  Indian,  he  seemed  to  be  a  man  of  much  capacity, 
and  had  an  oratory  with  images  in  it.  The  Governor  made  presents 
of  knives,  beads  and  other  small  articles  to  him  and  the  Indians  who 
came  with  him ;  so  that  they  »went  away  well  contented,  and  promised 
to  come  and  bring  other  Indians  with  them  to  the  province  of  Coahuila. 

The  Governor  examined  the  Frenchmen  separately,  and  took  their 
declarations,  in  order  to  send  them  to  the  viceroy.  We  then  continued 
our  journey  as  far  as  the  River  Nueces,  from  which  the  Governor  set 
off  in  advance,  on  Tuesday  the  10th  of  May,  with  some  men,  in  order 
to  communicate  the  particulars  of  the  expedition  to  his  excellency  as 
soon  as  possible.  We  reached  the  fort  of  Coahuila  on  the  13th  of  the 
same  month  of  May,  at  night,  when  this  journal  was  finished,  and 
signed,  in  attestation  of  the  facts,  by  the  Governor. 


• 


396  FUNERAL    OF    THE    STUNG    SERPENT.  [1725. 

were  immolated,  against  their  own  will,  or  apparent  will,  except 
an  old  woman,  who  was  killed  for  speaking  disrespectfully  of  the 
late  chief,  and  an  infant  strangled  by  its  parents,  who  thereby 
saved  their  own  lives,  and  were  raised  to  a  higher  rank.  Thir 
teen  women  and  three  men,  however,  offered  themselves  volunta 
rily,  and  were  put  to  death  by  their  nearest  relations  :  among 
them  were  the  two  wives  of  the  Great  Sun,  his  principal. warrior, 
his  physician  and  his  pipe-bearer,  and  the  wife  of  the  latter,  who 
though  not  required  to  die,  insisted  on  accompanying  her  beloved 
husband — "Thou  hast  never  before  rejected  me," — cried  this  af 
fectionate  savage, — "let  me  go  with  thee  now  ;  we  have  always 
walked  together,  and  eaten  together,  and  we  will  do  so  still ;  I 
go  not  with  thy  chief,  but  with  thee."  One  of  the  intended  vic 
tims,  a  warrior  who  endeavored  to  escape  and  was  re-taken,  on 
evincing  signs  of  weakness,  was  declared  unworthy  of  the  honor 
of  joining  his  master;  but  two  women,  his  near  relations,  imme 
diately  appeared  as  substitutes  for  the  recreant,  in  order  to  remove 
the  disgrace  from  their  family.1  In  like  manner,  the  mother  of  a 
woman  who  had  been  a  favorite  of  the  chief,  but  was  then  at  New 
Orleans  as  a  hostage  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  took  the  place 
of  her  daughter,  and  was  strangled  with  the  others  in  front  of  the 
great  temple.  Strong  must  have  been  the  convictions  of  religion, 
and  the  sense  of  honor,  which  could  induce  such  self  devotion. 

Farther  north,  the  Chickasas  from  time  to  time  resumed  their 
piratical  cruises  on  the  Mississippi,  and  attacked  the  French,  en 
gaged  in  the  river  trade,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cliffs,  to 
which  the  name  of  that  daring  nation  of  savages,  began  to  be 
assigned.  The  Governor,  however,  did  not  seem  to  apprehend 
any  immediate  danger  to  the  colony  from  the  Indians;  and  he 
contented  himself  with  the  usual  means  of  securing  the  fidelity  of 
the  Choctas,  by  presents  and  by  purchasing  the  scalps  of  Chicka 
sas  and  English,  until  he  was  roused  to  the  necessity  of  active  mea 
sures,  by  a  catastrophe  which  occurred  on  the  Missouri  in  1728. 

This  was  the  destruction  of  Fort  Orleans,  at  the  confluence  of 
the  Missouri  with  the  Kansas,  and  the  massacre  of  the  whole 
garrison  by  the  Osages;  respecting  which,  the  following  rather 
curious  circumstances  should  be  related.  M.  de  Bourgmont. 
the  founder  of  this  fort,  had  as  a  mistress,  a  young  Illinois 
woman,  whom  he  carried  with  him  to  France  in  1725,  in  com- 


727.] 


DESTRUCTION  OF  FORT  ORLEANS. 


397 


pany  with  some  other  Indians  of  that  nation,  under  the  immediate 
charge  of  a  sergeant  named  Dubois.  The  savages  excited  much 
attention  at  Paris  ;  they  danced  on  the  theatres,  they  received 
presents  from  the  nobility,  and  several  of  them,  including  the 
Commandant's  mistress,  were  solemnly  baptised  in  the  cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame.  At  this  time,  however,  Bourgmont  married  a 
lady  of  rank,  and  was  transferred  to  a  higher  position  in  Europe; 
and  his  mistress  being  then  a  useless  appendage  to  his  state,  she 
was  married  to  Dubois  the  sergeant,  who  was  made  a  lieutenant, 
and  appointed  to  the  command  of  Fort  Orleans.  On  their  return 
to  that  place,  Madame  Dubois  became  disgusted  with  her  lonely 
position  on  the  Missouri,  and  sighing  for  the  liberty  of  her  early 
life,  she  signified  her  determination  to  go  back  to  her  friends  in 
the  Illinois.  Her  husband  consented,  and  she  took  her  departure  ;* 
soon  after*  which,  the  capture  of  the  fort  and  the  massacre  of  the 
garrison  were  effected,  by  the  neighboring  Indians,  though  in 
what  manner,  the  French  were  never  able  to  learn. 

Immediately  on  receiving  the  news  of  this  disaster,  Perier 
wrote  to  France,  urging  the  Government  to  send  three  hundred 
additfc>nal  soldiers  to  Louisiana  without  delay,  and  to  afford  him 
the  means  of  increasing  the  strength  of  the  posts  and  supplying 
them  properly  with  arms,  ammunition  and  provisions  :  no  atten 
tion  however  was  paid  to  his  call,  which  was  regarded  as  pro- 

*  This  woman  afterwards  married  a  French  officer  named  Marin,  and  lived  in 
the  Illinois  to  an  advanced  age.  One  of  the  Indian  chiefs  who  accompanied  her, 
on  being  asked  by  Bossu  many  years  afterwards,  what  he  most  admired  at  Paris, 
without  hesitation  declared  his  preference  for  the  markets  where  meat  was  al 
ways  to  be  had,  and  the  puppet  shows  where  little  men  danced:  he  mistook  the 
Paris  beaux  with  their  curled  wigs,  rouged  faces,  and  superabundance  of  jewel 
ry,  for  hermaphrodites.  Another  chief  appeared  to  be  so  completely  carried 
away  by  his  feelings,  on  describing  the  palaces  of  the  Tuilleries  and  Versailles, 
and  especially  the  Hospital  of  the  Invalides — which  he  called  the  wigwam  of  the 
old  warriors — that  he  was,  as  usual,  universally  believed  by  his  countrymen,  to 
have  been  bewitched,  and  he  could  never  regain  his  consideration  among  them. 

Voltaire  saw  these  Indians  at  Fontainebleau,  and  he  asked  the  woman,  whether 
she  had  ever  eaten  human  flesh  ?  "  to  which  she  answered  yes,"  writes  Voltaire 
in  his  Essai  sur  les  Moeurs,  "  in  a  manner,  as  quiet  and  indifferent,  as  if  the 
question  had  been  about  any  ordinary  occurrence."  It  is  however  probable, 
either  that  the  Indian  mistook  the  meaning  of  the  question,  or  that  the  philoso 
pher  was  deceived  as  to  her  answer ;  there  being  no  reason  to  believe  that  can 
nibalism  was  then  practised  by  the  savages  of  the  Mississippi  countries,  though 
it  must  necessarily  often  occur,  among  people  who  depend  exclusively  on  hunt 
ing  for  support. 


398       THE  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  AT  NATCHES.     [1728. 

ceeding  from  interested  views  on  his  part,  similar  to  those  attri 
buted  to  Bienville.  Parsimony  had  moreover  succeeded  to  waste, 
in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  India  Company;  and 
the  cautious  Cardinal  Fleury  appears  to  have  considered  the 
colony  in  Louisiana  only  as  a  burthen,  which  was  to  be  borne 
in  order  to  prevent  the  English  from  obtaining  possession  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  remonstrances  of  Perier  were  thus  suffered  to 
remain  unheeded  for  more  than  a  year  longer,  before  the  expira 
tion  of  which  period,  the  colony  had  received  a  fatal  blow  from  a 
quarter,  whence  it  was  least  anticipated.* 

The  most  flourishing  of  all  the  French  settlements  in  Louisiana 
were  those  at  Natchez,  the  principal  of  which  were,  the  conces 
sion  of  St.  Catherine,  belonging  to  the  Messrs.  Kolly  Swiss  bank 
ers  of  Paris,  that  of  La  Terre  Blanche,  on  the  site  of  a  former 
Indian  village  of  the  same  name,  recently  established  by  the  Ma- 
rechal  de  Belle  Isle,  and  another  large  plantation  formed  by  M. 
La  Loire  des  Ursins;  besides  several  farms,  all  lying' within  the 
space  of  four  or  five  miles  square,  bordering  upon  the  Mississippi. 
Not  far  from  the  river,  stood  Fort  Rosalie,  a  small  work  of  earth 
and  logs,  garrisoned  usually  by  thirty  men,  who  with  the  people 
attached  to  the  plantations,  made  the  whole  number  of  the  French 
at  the  place  not  less  than  five  hundred  ;  and  there  were  in  addi 
tion,  about  two  hundred  negroes.  The  Indians  had  been  reduced, 
by  emigration,  to  less  than  fifteen  hundred ;  and  of  their  six  villages 
only  three  remained,  namely,  that  of  the  Meal  where  the  Great 
Sun  resided,  and  those  of  the  Tioux,  and  the  Apple,  which  latter 

*  Particular  accounts  of  the  catastrophe  at  Natchez,  are  given  by  Le  Page  Du 
Pratz,  who  had  resided  at  that  place  some  time  before,  and  by  Dumont,  who  was 
then  a  lieutenant  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Rosalie,  though  absent  at  New  Orleans 
when  the  events  occurred.  As  to  the  main  facts  they  agree  in  general ;  though 
they  differ  on  some  minor  points,  which  are  in  consequence  either  omitted,  or 
touched  but  lightly  in  the  following  narrative.  Dumont,  as  usual,  tells  his  story 
plainly,  as  he  received  it;  his  chief  authority  being  his  wife,  who  was  one  of  the 
captives  retained  by  the  Indians,  after  the  massacre  of  the  Frenchmen :  Le  Page 
Du  Pratz,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibits  his  customary  desire  to  produce  effect,  by 
embroidering  his  narrative  with  striking  circumstances ;  recording  the  discussions 
of  the  Natches  chiefs,  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  towards  the  French,  as 
well  as  the  confidential  communications  between  the  Great  Sun  and  his  mother 
with  all  the  exactness  which  could  have  been  expected  from  him,  if  he  had  been 
present  on  the  occasions,  and  had  been  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  language 
employed.  Some  additional  particulars  are  given  in  a  letter  from  Father  Le 
Petit,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  which  may  be  found  among  the  Lettres  Edifiantes. 


1729.]      TYRANNICAL  CONDUCT  OF  THE  FRENCH.        399 

had  been  rebuilt  since  its  destruction  by  the  French  in  1723. 
The  Great  Sun  was  a  young  man  of  negative  disposition,  and 
was  supposed  to  be  governed  entirely  by  his  mother  the  Stung 
Arm,  a  woman  of  strong  character,  and  devotedly  attached  to  the 
French  ;  the  principal  direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  nation  was, 
however,  held  by  the  Sun  of  the  Apple,  who  was  the  great  Wai- 
Chief,  a  brother  of  the  Old  Hair,  whose  head  had  been  demand 
ed  by  Bienville,  on  the  occasion  of  the  last  disturbances.* 

The  command  of  the  French  garrison  at  Natchez,  and  the 
general  superintendence  of  the  settlement,  haft  been  committed 
usually  to  discreet  persons,  who  took  pains  to  conciliate  the  In 
dians;  but  in  1728,  the  command  was  conferred  on  M.  Chopard, 
a  man  of  brutal  manners  and  rapacious  disposition,  who  immedi 
ately  disgusted  the  officers,  the  settlers,  and  the  Indians,  by  his 
rudeness  and  tyranny  on  every  occasion.  Chopard  however  suc 
ceeded  in  satisfying  the  Governor,  from  whom  he  likewise  ob 
tained  leave  to  form  a  plantation  at  Natchez ;  and  having  with 
this  object  purchased  several  negroes,  he  brought  them  up  to  that 
place  in  the  summer  of  1729,  and  began  to  explore  the  environs, 
in  search  of  a  proper  site  for  his  establishment.  He  at  length  se 
lected  a  spot,  which  was  no  other  than  that  occupied  by  the  Indian 
village  of  the  Meal  and  its  great  temple,  on  the  bayou  of  St. 
Catherine,  midway  between  the  concessions  of  St.  Catherine  and 
La  Terre  Blanche  ;f  and  having  abruptly  declared  his  intentions 
to  the  Great  Sun,  he  ordered  that  chief  to  remove  with  his  people 

*  The  father  of  the  Great  Sun  was  said  to  have  been  a  Frenchman ;  and  his 
younger  brother,  the  Little  Sun,  bore  the  name  of  St.  Come,  in  token  of  the  af 
fection  of  the  Stung  Arm  for  the  gallant  and  unfortunate  Jesuit,  who  first  under 
took  the  task  of  converting  the  Natches  to  Christianity. 

f  Stoddart,  in  his  History  of  Louisiana,  says — "  This  village  was  situated  about 
twelve  miles  below  the  present  city  of  Natchez,  and  nearly  three  miles  to  the 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  site  of  which  is  the  seat  of  Col.  Anthony 
Hutchings."  This  is  however  undoubtedly  erroneous.  Fort  Rosalie  stood  near 
the  edge  of  the  cliff,  at  the  south-west  angle  of  the  present  city  of  Natchez ;  and 
we  know,  that  the  Indian  village,  which  Chopard  wished  to  occupy  for  his  plan 
tation,  was  on  St.  Catherine's  creek,  within  a  league  and  a  quarter,  or  less  than 
four  miles,  of  Fort  Rosalie,  from  the  repeated  accounts  of  its  position  by  Le  Page 
Du  Pratz  and  Dumont,  and  especially  from  the  map  in  the  Memoires  of  the  latter 
author,  (vol.  2,  page  94,)  in  which  the  village  is  placed  east  by  north  of  the  fdrt. 
Possibly  it  may  have  been  near  the  present  village  of  Seltzerville,  where  a  vast 
mound  of  earth  seems  to  mark  the  spot  as  sacred  to  some  deity,  or  as  the  deposi 
tory  of  the  remains  of  honored  individuals. 


400     THE  NATCHES  RESOLVE  TO  DESTROY  THE  FRENCH.    [1729. 

to  some  other  place.  The  astounded  Indian  answered,  that  his 
ancestors  had  dwelt  there  from  time  immemorial,  that  their  bones 
rested  in  the  temple,  and  that  it  would  be  most  unjust  thus  to 
expel  him,  without  any  remuneration  for  the  sacrifice.  These 
representations  nevertheless  served  only  to  irritate  Chopard;  and 
the  Great  Sun  was  in  the  end  obliged  to  promise  a  large  present 
of  fowls,  dried  meat,  and  other  articles,  in  return  for  a  delay  of 
two  months,  granted  to  him  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  in  his 
crops,  and  providing  another  habitation  for  himself  and  his  people. 

This  new  act  ^)f  oppression,  as  yet  unexampled  at  Natchez, 
produced  the  utmost  indignation  and  dismay  among  the  Indians, 
who  plainly  saw  that  they  should  soon  be  all  driven  from  their 
country,  unless  they  could  deliver  themselves  from  their  persecu 
tors  by  their  own  efforts ;  and  it  was  soon  resolved,  in  a  council 
of  their  most  influential  chiefs,  that  the  latter  course  should  be 
tried.  Deputies  wrere  accordingly  despatched  to  all  the  clans  of 
their  own  nation  in  exile,  as  well  as  to  the  Yazoos,  the  Chickasas, 
and  even  to  the  Choctas,  inviting  them  to  join  the  league  for  the 
extirpation  of  the  intruding  strangers ;  and  the  answers  returned 
were  such,  as  to  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  plan  in  concert  for  that 
object.  Each  of  the  French  settlements  was  to  be  attacked,  on 
the  same  day,  by  the  Indians  residing  nearest  to  it;  and  in  order 
to  ensure  precision  as  to  the  time  of  commencing  the  onslaught, 
bundles  of  sticks,  each  containing  the  same  number  of  pieces,  were 
delivered  to  the  representatives  of  the  confederate  tribes,  with 
directions  to  each  tribe,  to  remove  one  stick  from  its  bundle  daily, 
and  to  strike  so  soon  as  none  should  be  left. 

The  Sun  of  the  Apple  appears  to  have  been  the  principal  di 
rector  of  the  scheme  of  blood  and  Vengeance,  with  which  the 
Great  Sun  was  but  partially  entrusted,  from  fear  of  the  influence 
of  his  mother  the  Stung  Arm,  and  her  well  known  affection  for 
the  strangers.  This  woman  nevertheless  penetrated  the  secret, 
and  gave  hints  of  what  was  meditated  to  more  than  one  of  the 
intended  victims  :  but  the  warning  was  not  sufficiently  distinct, 
or  it  came^too  late  to  be  of  use;  for  on  the  28th  of  November, 
when  the  last  stick  but  one  was  drawn  from  the  bundle  preserved 
in  the  great  temple  at  Natchez,  the  French  were  still  reposing  in 
entire  unconsciousness  of  the  danger  hanging  over  them.  On 
the  morning  of  that  day,  indeed,  the  interpreter  of  the  garrison 


1729.] 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    ATTACK. 


401 


and  four  other  persons,  who  had  gone  together  to  Chopard  to 
communicate  some  circumstances  calculated  to  put  him  on  his 
guard  against  the  Indians,  were  abused  by  the  irritable  Command 
ant,  and  sent  to  expiate  their  intrusiveness  in  prison. 

On  the  following  day,  the  29th  of  November,  1729,  the  last 
stick  of  the  fatal  bundle  was  solemnly  burnt  in  the  sacred  fire  of 
the  temple,  and  the  Indians  prepared  for  the  attack  on  the  French. 
The  Commandant  was,  on  the  same  morning,  informed  of  the 
arrival  of  a  galley  at  the  landing  place  on  the  river,  bringing  the 
articles  required  for  the  commencement  of  his  plantation ;  and  as 
the  two  months,  at  the  end  of  which  he  was  to  be  put  in  posses 
sion  of  the  tract,  had  nearly  expired,  he  went  over  to  that  place, 
with  the  judge  and  the  storekeeper,  and  passed  some  hours  in 
consultation  with  them  as  to  his  plans.  On  returning  to  his  house, 
which  was  immediately  contiguous  to  the  fort,  he  went  to  his 
chamber  to  take  some  repose ;  but  he  was  soon  aroused  by  the 
drums  and  shouts  of  the  Indians,  who  came  in  procession,  headed 
by  the  Sun  of  the  Apple,  to  bear  the  present  promised,  in  consid 
eration  of  the  time  allowed  for  their  removal  from  their  village. 
The  corn,  meat  and  fowls  were  displayed,  the  calumet  was  smoked, 
and  songs  and  dances  were  begun  in  honor  of  the  Commandant, 
who  was  so  much  pleased,  that  he  ordered  the  interpreter  and  the 
other  men  arrested  on  the  preceding  day,  to  be  set  at  liberty. 

So  entire  was  the  security  of  the  French  at  that  period,  that 
the  Indians  were  freely  admitted  into  their  houses  and  even  into 
the  fort,  at  all  times ;  and  no  settler  refused  to  lend  his  gun  and 
ammunition  to  a  savage  of  his  acquaintance,  from  any  feeling  of 
mistrust  or  apprehension.  Accordingly  no  surprise  was  created 
by  the  dispersion  of  the  Natches  through  the  village  and  the 
buildings  of  the  fort,  after  the  ceremony;  and  their  requests  for 
the  loan  of  guns  and  pistols  to  hunt  a  wolf  which  had  lately  ap 
peared  in  the  vicinity,  were  universally  met  by  compliance.  A 
party  of  natives  thus  provided  with  arms,  proceeded  to  the  river 
where  the  galley  lay,  and  after  lounging  about  on  board  and  on 
shore,  each  took  his  place  by  a  Frenchman,  in  expectation  of  the 
preconcerted  signal.  A  gun  was  at  length  fired  on  the  cliff,  and 
every  Frenchman  in  the  galley,  except  one  who  leaped  into  the 
river,  was  immediately  put  to  death :  from  the  shore,  the  signal 
was  transmitted  by  repetition  to  the  habitations  of  the  French,  in 
51 


402      THE  FRENCH  DESTROYED  BY  THE  NATCHES.    [1729. 

each  of  which,  the  same  tragedy  was  enacted  ;  and  at  the  end  of 
half  an  hour  from  the  first  blow,  not  a  dozen  white  men  remained 
alive  at  the  settlement.  Chopard,  the  wretched  cause  of  the  ca 
lamity,  fled  on  the  first  sign  of  hostility  to  his  garden,  from  which 
he  endeavored  to  gain  the  fort;  but  the  garrison  had  already  been 
butchered,  and  the  Commandant  was  dragged  before  the  Great 
Sun,  who  disdaining  to  soil  his  own  hands  with  blood  so  vile, 
ordered  him  to  be  despatched  by  one  of  the  meanest  of  his  subjects. 

M.  La  Loire  des  Ursins,  the  owner  of  a  plantation  near  Fort 
Rosalie,  had  been  a  short  time  previous  informed  of  the  intention 
of  the  savages,  arid  having  made  some  hasty  preparations  for  the 
defence  of  his  place,  he  rode  to  the  fort,  to  give  the  alarm;  but 
he  was  met  on  the  way  by  the  War  Chief,  bearing  the  head  of  the 
Commandant,  and  he  immediately  fell,  pierced  by  many  balls. 
At  his  plantation  alone  was  any  resistance  made ;  eight  men  and 
a  woman  there  courageously  maintained  themselves  against  the 
savages,  until  only  two  men  were  left  alive,  who  escaped  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  New  Orleans. 
M.  de  Kolly  and  his  son,  who  had  come  over  from  Paris  to  visit 
their  estates,  were  both  sacrificed.  Father  Poisson,  a  Jesuit, 
whose  letters*  present  such  interesting  descriptions  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  regions,  was  despatched  by  the  tomahawk  of  a  chief,  as 
he  was  returning  from  the  administration  of  the  sacrament,  to  a 
dying  countryman;  and  M.  du  Coder,  the  Commandant  of  the 
fort  of  the  Yazoos,  then  on  a  visit  to  Natchez,  met  his  death  while 
endeavoring  to  defend  the  priest.  The  wromen  and  children  were 
nearly  all  spared,  as  also  the  negroes,  who  were  probably  con 
cerned  in  the  plot;  and  a  tailor  and  a  carpenter  were  saved  by 
the  special  command  of  the  Great  Sun,  who  was  anxious  to  avail 
himself  of  their  professional  skill.  Of  the  others  who  avoided 
death  at  the  first  onset,  only  four  or  five  reached  the  French  set 
tlements;  those  who  were  discovered  by  the  Indians,  perished 
after  long  tortures  in  the  flames  before  the  great  temple. 

Immediately  after  the  massacre,  the  Natches  plundered  the  fort 
and  galley,  both  of  which  were  then  burnt;  and  supposing  that 
the  French  had  been,  in  like  manner,  destroyed  at  all  the  other 
places,  they  gave  themselves  up  to  riot  and  debauchery.  On  that 

*  Published  in  the  Lettres  Edifiantes. 


1729.]    MASSACRE  OF  THE  FRENCH  AT  THE  YAZOO.      403 

night,  however,  arrived  some  Indians  from  the  Yazoo,  who  gave 
information,  that  the  notice  for  the  murder  of  the  French  had 
not  reached  that  place,  or  had  been  misunderstood  ;  but  it  was 
soon  agreed,  that  the  same  course  should  be  pursued  there,  and 
the  Yazoos  returned  to  carry  the  plan  into  execution.  On  their 
way,  they  met  some  French  descending  the  river,  whom  they 
charged  to  deliver  their  assurances  of  respect  to  the  Governor  at 
New  Orleans  ;  nevertheless,  on  the  12th  of  December,  all  the 
settlers  on  the  Yazoo,  with  the  whole  garrison  of  Fort  St.  Pierre, 
except  four  women  and  five  children,  were  put  to  death,  in  the 
same  manner  as  at  Natchez.  The  first  who  fell  was  the  Jesuit 
Father  Souel;  the  number  of  the  other  victims  was  seventeen. 
The  Jesuit  Dutrouleau,  who  stopped  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  a 
few  days  afterwards,  on  his  way  from  the  Arkansas,  was  fired  on 
and  severely  wounded ;  but  he  succeeded  in  escaping  and  reached 
New  Orleans.  Other  boats  on  their  way  down  from  the  Illinois, 
were  in  like  manner  attacked  as  they  passed  Natchez,  and  those 
on  board  were  nearly  all  killed. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  of  the  celebrated  massacre  of  the 
French  by  the  natives,  on  the  Mississippi  in  1729,  in  which  about 
two  hundred  and  eighty  men*  were  sacrificed,  while  nearly  an 
equal  number  of  women  and  children,  fell  as  captives  into  the 
hands  of  the  savages.  The  number  of  the  slain,  was  less  than 
that  of  the  English  during  the  similar  outbreak  of  the  Indians  on 
James  River,  in  Virginia,  rather  more  than  a  century  previous : 
the  English  colony,  however,  soon  recovered  from  the  blow;  to 
the  French,  their  disaster  was  fatal,  and  all  their  subsequent 
efforts  proved  insufficient,  as  will  be  shewn,  to  restore  their  su 
premacy  on  the  Mississippi.  This  disaster  was  occasioned  by 
'tyranny  and  cupidity  on  the  part  of  the  settlers,  combined  with 

*Perier  in  his  despatch  to  the  Government  of  March  18,  1730,  makes  the 
number  killed  about  two  hundred  and  fifty;  Dumont,  who  was  an  officer  of  the 
garrison  at  Natchez,  and  had  left  the  place  only  two  days  before  the  massacre, 
places  it  at  seven  hundred ;  Le  Page  Du  Pratz,  who  was  in  Louisiana  at  the 
time,  says  nearly  nine  hundred,  and  Bossu,  who  did  not  arrive  in  that  country 
until  1751,  raises  the  amount  to  two  thousand. 

The  most  extensive  massacre  of  persons  of  European  race,  by  Indians,  in  any 
part  of  America  north  of  Mexico,  took  place  in  Virginia,  in  1721,  when  three 
hundred  and  forty-seven  of  the  English  settlers,  nearly  all  on  the  banks  of  James 
River,  were  put  to  death  by  the  natives. 


404     THE   INDIANS   PROBABLY  EXCITED  BY  THE   ENGLISH.   [1729. 

their  carelessness  and  contempt  of  the  natives  who  were  thus 
excited  and  encouraged  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  the  stran 
gers,  so  different  from  themselves  in  color,  feature,  customs,  and 
objects,  and  with  whom  they  had,  and  could  have,  nothing  in 
common.  That  the  Indians  were  stimulated  to  the  act  by  the 
English  traders,  either  directly,  or  through  the  influence  of  the 
Chickasas,  is  probable :  it  has  always  been  asserted  by  the 
French,  and  is  distinctly  affirmed  by  the  best  English  authority 
on  the  subject;  and  the  general  conduct  of  the  two  nations  to 
wards  each  other  in  this  respect,  fully  sustains  the  belief. 

Even  before  the  massacre  took  place,  rumors  had  been  current 
in  the  lower  country,  of  intended  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians,  which  had  created  much  uneasiness  at  New  Orleans  and 
Mobile  ;  and  on  the  1st  of  December,  a  large  body  of  Choctas, 
headed  by  their  chiefs,  painted  and  armed  for  war,  appeared  on 
Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  requested  permission  to  enter  the  capital 
in  order,  as  they  pretended,  to  smoke  the  calumet  and  hold  a  talk 
with  the  Governor.  Perier  however  refused  to  admit  more  than 
a  small  number  of  chiefs;  in  consequence  of  which,  they  all  moved 
off  with  apparent  dissatisfaction.  Several  Frenchmen  were  about 
the  same  time  murdered  on  the  Mobile  by  unknown  hands;  and 

*  "  Some  of  the  old  Natches  warriors  who  formerly  lived  on  the  Mississippi, 
two  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Choctas,  told  me,  the  French  demanded  from 
every  one  of  their  warriors  a  drest  buck  skin,  without  any  value,  that  is,  they 
taxed  them :  but  that  the  warriors'  hearts  grew  very  cross,  and  they  loved  the 
deer  skins.  According  to  the  French  accounts  of  the  Mississippi  Indians,  this 
seems  to  have  been  in  1729.  As  those  Indians  were  of  a  peaceable  and  kindly 
disposition,  numerous  and  warlike,  and  always  kept  a  friendly  intercourse  with 
the  Chickasas,  who  never  had  any  good  will  to  the  French,  these  soon  understood 
their  heart  burnings,  and  by  the  advice  of  the  old  English  traders,  carried  them  white 
pipes  and  tobacco,  in  their  own  name  and  that  of  South  Carolina,  persuading  them  with 
earnestness  and  policy  to  cut  off  the  French,  as  they  were  resolved  to  enslave  them 
in  their  own  beloved  land.  The  Chickasas  succeeded  in  their  embassy:  but  as 
the  Indians  are  slow  in  their  councils,  on  things  of  great  importance,  though 
equally  close  and  intent,  it  was  the  following  year  before  they  could  put  their 
grand  scheme  into  execution.  Some  of  their  head  men  indeed  opposed  the  plan; 
yet  they  never  discovered  it:  but  when  these  went  a  hunting  in  the  woods,  the 
embers  burst  into  a  raging  flame.  They  attacked  the  French,  who  were  flour 
ishing  away  in  the  greatest  security,  and  as  was  affirmed,  they  entirely  cut  off 
the  garrison  and  neighboring  settlements,  consisting  of  fifteen  hundred  men, 
women  and  children  ;  the  misconduct  of  a  few  indiscreet  persons  occasioned  so 
'great  a  number  of  innocent  lives  to  be  thus  cut  off." — Adair's  History  of  the 
American  Indians,  page  353. 


1730.]        THE    FRENCH    MARCH    AGAINST    THE    NATCHES.  405 

M.  Diron  d'Artaguette,  who  commanded  that  district,  was  warned 
to  be  on  his  guard.  There  is  in  fact,  no  reason  to  doubt,  that 
the  Choctas  had  entered  fully  into  the  scheme  for  the  destruction 
of  the  French,  which  the  superior  strength  of  the  principal  places 
m  the  lower  country,  and  the  military  discipline  maintained  there, 
had  prevented  them  from  attempting  to  execute.  It  is  also  cer 
tain,  that  soon  after  the  massacre  at  Natchez,  Chocta  deputies 
came  to  that  place  and  received  a  portion  of  the  spoils,  with 
which  they  went  away,  apparently  much  dissatisfied.* 

The  first  account  of  the  events  at  Natchez  was  brought  to  New 
Orleans,  four  days  after  their  occurrence,  by  Ricard  a  storekeeper, 
who  had  escaped  from  the  galley  when  the  attack  commenced ; 
and  other  persons  soon  after  arrived,  bringing  farther  news,  until 
the  particulars  of  the  destruction  of  the  French  at  that  place,  as 
well  as  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  had  been  clearly  ascertained. 
Perier  on  the  first  alarm,  sent  an  officer  to  France,  to  urge  the 
immediate  despatch  of  succors;  and  he  then  raised  as  many  men 
as  he  could,  who  were  sent  up  the  river  under  Colonel  de  Lou- 
bois  in  two  vessels  recently  arrived  from  France.  M.  le  Sueur  a 
daring  Canadian,  at  the  same  time  wept  among  the  Choctas  in 
order  to  secure  their  aid  if  possible,  or  at  least  to  learn  their  in 
tentions  ;  and  he  performed  his  dangerous  task  so  well,  that  he 
was  soon  on  the  march  towards  Natchez  with  six  hundred  In 
dians,  commanded  by  the  Alibamon  Mingo  and  the  Red  Shoe, 
all  breathing  the  most  deadly  hatred  to  the  foes  of  the  French. 

Loubois  slowly  ascending  the  Mississippi  with  his  two  vessels, 
reached  the  Tunica  town  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Red 
river,  in  the  latter  part  of  December ;  and  there  he  remained 
throughout  the  month  of  January,  1730,  endeavoring  to  obtain 
the  restoration  of  the  captives  held  by  the  Natches.  The  cunning 
savages  on  this  occasion  amused  the  French,  in  various  ways, 
until  they  had,  with  the  aid  of  the  negroes  constructed  two  rude 

*  Dumont  states,  on  the  authority  of  his  wife,  who  was  one  of  the  prisoners 
detained  by  the  Natches,  that  the  massacre  took  place  two  days  earlier  than  had 
been  proposed,  in  consequence  of  the  removal  of  two  sticks  from  the  bundle, 
kept  in  the  temple,  by  a  child  of  the  Sun  of  the  Apple,  who  amused  himself  by 
burning  them,  as  he  had  seen  his  father  do,  in  the  sacred  fire  ;  and  that  the  1st 
of  December,  on  which  the  Choctas  appeared  in  force  near  New  Orleans,  was 
the  day  originally  appointed.  Another  account  says  that  the  sticks  were  inten 
tionally  removed  by  the  Stung  Arm. 


Ill 


406  ATTACK    OF    THE    CHOCTAS    ON    THE    NATCHES.        [1730. 

forts ;  and  then  considering  themselves  strong  enough,  they  threw 
off  the  mask,  and  put  to  death  some  officers  and  men  whom  Lou- 
bois  had  sent  to  bear  them  proposals.  The  French,  however, 
still  remained  inactive  ;  and  the  Natches  becoming  careless  in 
consequence,  returned  to  their  debauchery,  in  which  they  were 
indulging  on  the  27th  of  January,  when  the  Choctas  under  their 
chiefs  and  Le  Sueur,  reached  the  vicinity  of  their  position.  Led 
on  by  the  hope  of  plunder,  the  Choctas  immediately  fell  upon 
their  enemies,  of  whom  they  killed  a  hundred,  including  the  War 
Chief,  and  took  several  prisoners,  besides  rescuing  fifty-four 
French  women  and  children  and  nearly  a  hundred  negroes.  They 
might  have  indeed  destroyed  the  whole  of  the  Natches,  who  were 
entirely  unprepared,  but  for  the  exertions  of  a  number  of  negroes 
who  had  joined  the  latter,  and  by  their  resistance,  afforded  time 
for  the  Indians  to  retire  with  their  other  prisoners  into  the  forts.* 
The  news  of  this  success  of  the  Choctas  aroused  Loubois  from 
his  inactivity ;  and  having  been  reinforced  by  a  large  party  from 
New  Orleans,  under  young  D'Artaguette  the  nephew  of  the 
Commandant  of  Mobile,  he  marched  to  Natchez,  where  he  arrived 
on  the  12th  of  February,  with  about  six  hundred  men.  After  a 
week  spent  in  approaches,  the  forts  of  the  Indians  were  attacked 
on  the  20th,  but  without  success.  These  miserable  fortifications 
of  wood  and  earth  unprovided  with  artillery,  were  then  cannonaded 
for  several  days  with  no  effect;  for  the  French  being  panic  struck, 
it  was  impossible  to  bring  them  to  the  assault  when  a  breach  had 
been  made,  and  the  Natches  made  frequent  sorties  at  night,  in 
which  they  destroyed  the  works  of  the  besiegers.  The  Choctas 
having  by  this  time  consumed  nearly  all  their  provisions,  declared 
their  determination  to  return  home;  and  notwithstanding  all  the 
efforts  of  Le  Sueur,  and  the  promises  made  to  them  by  Loubois, 
they  would  have  done  so,  had  not  the  Natches  proposed  a  parley. 
Negotiations  were  again  carried  on,  through  the  agency  of  one  of 
the  captive  French  women;  and  it  was  finally  agreed,  that  the  be^ 
sieged  should  be  allowed  to  quit  the  place  without  molestation,  on 

*  Minute  accounts  of  the  expeditions  of  the  French  against  the  Natches  are 
presented  in  the  despatches  of  Perier  and  the  Commissioner  Baron  to  the  Gov 
ernment,  which  are  copied  at  Ipngth  by  Gayarre  in  his  "  Histoire  de  la  Louis- 
iane,"  chapter  11.  The  statements  are  however  not  always  clear  or  consistent, 
especially  on  the  points  most  disgraceful  to  the  French. 


1730.]          THE    HATCHES     ESCAPE    FROM    THEIR    FORTS.  407 

condition  of  their  surrendering  the  prisoners.  Accordingly  on  the 
27th  of  the  month,  the  women  and  children  with  nearly  all  the  ne 
groes  were  liberated  ;  and  on  the  following  night,  the  Natches  aban 
doned  their  forts,  carry  ing  off  the  remainder  of  the  negroes,  without 
any  attempt  being  made  to  arrest  their  passage,  although  Loubois 
declared  his  intention  to  do  so.  Perier  in  his  despatch  to  the 
Government  represents  this  transaction,  as  the  result  of  the  mag 
nanimity  of  the  French  Commandant,  in  return  for  the  liberation 
of  the  prisoners;  but  there  is  abundant  evidence,  that  Loubois 
had  lost  all  confidence  in  his  men,  among  whom  only  a  few  ne 
groes  and  the  Germans  under  Arensberg  from  the  Cote  Allemande, 
appear  to  have  displayed  any  courage  in  the  affair.  The  Choc- 
tas  claimed  the  whole  credit  of  the  result,  to  which  indeed  they 
were  justly  entitled;  and  they  treated  their  allies  most  cavalierly 
in  consequence.  They  demanded  the  lion's  share  of  the  property 
recovered  from  the  Natches,  and  farther  presents  of  goods  in  re 
turn  for  the  captives  rescued,  to  secure  the  delivery  of  which, 
they  did  not  scruple  to  exact  hostages.  They  also  insisted  on 
carrying  off  several  negroes,  who  professed  a  desire  to  remain 
with  them ;  and  they  were  allowed  to  put  to  death,  with  all  the 
refinements  of  savage  torture,  some  others  wrho  had  taken  part 
with  the  Natches.* 

Loubois  destroyed,  the  Indian  forts,  and  rebuilt  Fort  Rosalie 
on  a  better  plan,  and  having  placed  a  garrison  there,  he  returned 
to  New  Orleans.  The  women,  who  during  their  captivity  had 
suffered  every  evil  and  indignity,  and  had  seen  their  infants  torn 
from  their  breasts  and  offered  up  as  sacrifices,  were  treated  with 
the  utmost  kindness,  especially  by  the  Ursuline  nuns  then  re 
cently  established  in  the  capital.  The  surviving  owners  of  the 
estates  at  Natchez,  and  the  heirs  of  those  who  had  been  killed,  were 
allowed  to  choose  lands  near  Point  Coupee,  where  some  planta 
tions  were  formed  by  them ;  but  none  were  found  disposed  to  renew 
the  settlements  at  the  place  where  the  great  catastrophe  had  oc- 

*  Dumont  relates  a  romantic  story  of  a  negro  at  New  Orleans,  who  cut  off  his 
own  right  hand,  in  order  to  free  himself  from  the  revolting  duties  of  a  public 
executioner,  to  which  he  was  appointed  or  rather  condemned,  by  the  Governor 
of  Louisiana.  The  account  has  not  been  contradicted;  but  the  same  thing  is 
said  to  have  taken  place  in  Spain,  during  the  middle  ages,  and  was  made  the 
subject  of  a  tragedy  by  one  of  the  poets  of  that  country,  more  than  a  century 
before  the  foundation  of  New  Orleans. 


408          INSURRECTION    OF    NEGROES    AT    NEW    ORLEANS.     [1730. 

curre^,  which  continued  to  be  little  more  than  a  military  post,  so 
long  as  Louisiana  was  occupied  by  the  French. 

The  Natches  were  yet  by  no  means  conquered.  A  large  num 
ber,  probably  amounting  to  five  hundred  men,  with  their  women 
and  children,  had  established  themselves  in  the  marshy  region  of 
the  Washita,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  nearly  opposite  to  their  old 
place  of  abode,  from  which  they  occasionally  threatened  the 
French  at  Natchez  and  Natchitoches :  the  others  had  retired 
towards  the  Chickasa  country,  and  thence  they  often  caine  in 
small  parties  to  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Rosalie,  in  order  to  surprise 
and  murder  the  stragglers  from  that  post.  One  of  these  parties, 
in  the  summer  of  1730,  had  nearly  gained  possession  of  the  fort, 
to  which  they  obtained  admittance,  as  a  deputation  of  Choctas : 
another  party,  in  like  manner  succeeded  in  killing  the  great  chief 
of  the  Tunicas,  who  were  attached  to  the  French,  and  several  of 
his  followers,  before  they  were  discovered.  Of  the  Natches  made 
prisoners  by  the  French,  or  their  Indian  allies,  in  the  course  of 
the  same  year,  Perier  caused  some  to  be  publicly  burnt,  on  the 
levee  in  front  of  New  Orleans;  the  others  wrere  sent  to  St.  Do 
mingo  to  be  there  sold  as  slaves. 

The  French  in  Louisiana  were  exposed  to  another  peril  in  the 
summer  of  1730.  The  Governor  had  since  the  expedition  to 
Natchez,  placed  much  more  confidence  in  the  courage  of  the  ne 
groes,  than  in  that  of  his  own  countrymen  ;  and  he  employed  a 
band  of  Africans  to  extirpate  the  small  nation  of  the  Ouachas  or 
.Washas,  dwelling  on  the  borders  of  a  lake  about  thirty  miles  west 
of  New  Orleans,  who  had  excited  some  alarm  during  the  prece 
ding  winter.  The  expedition  was  successful,  but  the  negroes 
on  their  return,  became  so  much  elated  with  their  own  prowess, 
that  they  considered  it  a  task  no  less  easy,  to  destroy  their  own 
masters;  and  a  conspiracy  was  accordingly  soon  arranged  among 
them,  for  the  murder  of  all  the  white  people  at  New  Orleans  and 
in  the  neighboring  plantations,  on  a  day  appointed.  The  insolent 
answer  of  a  black  woman  to  her  master,  led  to  the  discovery  of 
the  plot  in  time  to  prevent  its  execution ;  and  the  Governor  was 
enabled  to  offer  to  the  good  citizens  of  the  capital,  the  spectacle 
of  the  operations  of  the  wheel,  and  other  civilized  instruments  of 
torture  and  death,  previously  unknown  there,  to  which  the  ring 
leaders  were  subjected. 


1731.]     EXPULSION  OF  THE   NATCHKS   FROM  THE  WASHITA.      409 

At  this  time,  a  small  body  of  troops  from  France  reached  New 
Orleans  under  the  command  of  M.  Perier  de  Salverte,  the  brother 
of  the  Governor;  and  it  was  determined  that  an  expedition  should 
be  made  against  the  Natches  in  the  Washita  country,  for  which 
purpose,  about  a  thousand  men  were  assembled  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  river.  Thence  they  proceeded  in  boats  up  the  Black 
River  or  lower  Washita,  in  search  of  the  enemy,  who  were,  after 
some  time,  found  posted  in  forts  on  a  marshy  spot  called  Bayou 
d'Argent  *  The  forts  of  the  Indians  were  invested  by  the  French 
in  January,  1731,  and  some  cannons  with  a  mortar  made  of  wood, 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  them.  The  Natches,  as  before,  de 
fended  themselves  bravely;  their  provisions  however  being  soon 
exhausted,  they  proposed  to  capitulate,  and  in  proof  of  their  sin 
cerity,  they  delivered  up  to  the  French  all  the  negroes,  nineteen 
in  number,  remaining  in  their  possession.  Perier  upon  this, 
agreed  to  receive  the  Great  Sun,  his  brother  St.  Come  the  Little 
Sun,  and  two  other  chiefs,  at  his  quarters,  in  order  to  discuss  the 
terms;  but  no  sooner  had  the  Indians  entered  the  place,  than  they 
were  seized  and  placed  in  confinement.  One  of  the  chiefs  escaped 
in  the  following  night,  and  reaching  the  forts,  he  assured  his 
brethren,  that  the  French  intended  to  burn  all  who  should  fall 
into  their  hands;  and  it  was  in  consequence  resolved  that  the 
warriors  should  make  a  desperate  effort  to  break  through  the  lines 
of  the  besiegers,  leaving  the  others  to  their  fate.  This  was  done 
without  difficulty,  and  three  hundred  men  thus  effected  their  eva 
sion,  under  cover  of  a  thick  mist;  so  that  the  French  on  closing  up 
their  lines  on  the  following  morning,  found  only  fifty  men,  with 
about  four  hundred  women  and  children,  with  whom  they  return 
ed  in  triumph  to  New  Orleans. 

Of  the  Natches  made  prisoners  by  the  French,  some  were  burnt 
at  New  Orleans,  and  some  were  retained  there  as  captives  or 
slaves  until  their  death.  The  Great  Sun,  his  brother  St.  Come, 

*  M.  Robin,  a  Frenchman  who  travelled  through  Louisiana  in  1803,  conceives 
that  he  discovered  this  spot,  on  the  plantation  of  a  M.  Ebrard,  near  the  junction 
of  the  Black  River  with  a  small  stream,  leading  to  the  Catahoola  lake.  The 
mounds  and  fortifications  observed  by  Robin,  were  however  probably  of  much 
more  ancient  date;  like  those  found  in  other  parts  of  Louisiana  and  on  the  Ohio, 
of  which  such  interesting  descriptions  are  presented  in  the  work  of  Messrs. 
Squier  and  Davis,  published  in  1848,  by  the  Smithsonian  Institute  in  Washing 
ton  City. 

52 


410          THE   CHIEFS   SENT  AS    SLAVES  TO   ST.    DOMINGO.         [1731 

and  the  other  principal  persons,  with  their  families,  were  sent  to 
St.  Domingo,  where  many  of  them  soon  fell  victims  to  the  dis 
eases  of  that  island.  The  survivors  were  supported  until  the 
following  year  at  the  expense  of  the  India  Company,  after  which, 
they  were  all  sold  as  slaves,  by  order  of  the  Directors  of  that 
body.*  Of  their  subsequent  history  nothing  has  been  discovered ; 
they  probably  soon  sunk  under  the  labors  of  the  plantations. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  summer  several  minor  expedi 
tions  were  made  from  New  Orleans  against  the  Natches,  who 
from  time  to  time,  appeared  in  force  at  different  points.  A  party 
of  them  took  a  position  within  six  miles  of  Natchitoches,  where 
they  built  a  fort  on  the  banks  of  a  small  lake,  and  endeavored  to 
prevail  on  the  French,  by  threats  and  by  promises,  to  quit  that 
country.  The  stout  Commandant  St.  Denis,  was  however  no*t 
to  be  affected  by  such  means,  and  he  soon  assembled  a  small 
force  of  French,  Indians,  and  even  of  Spaniards  from  the  neigh 
boring  fortress  of  Adayes,  with  whom  he  attacked  the  Natches  in 
their  stronghold,  and  killed  more  than  sixty ;  the  others  amount 
ing  to  as  many  more,  fled,  impressed  probably  with  greater  respect 
for  the  courage  and  activity  of  the  white  men,  than  preceding 
occurrences  were  calculated  to  create. 

*  "  Perier,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  colony,  had  them  all  carried  away 
to  Cape  Fran§ais,  where  the  most  important  member  of  the  dynasty  died  a  few 
months  after  his  arrival.  The  other  Suns  were  maintained  by  the  Company,  for 
the  moderate  sum  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred  arid  eighty-eight  livres  seven 
sous;  arid  when  application  was  made  to  M.  de  Maurepas  to  defray  this  expense, 
the  Minister  wrote  to  the  Directors  of  the  Company  under  date  of  April  22, 1731, 
— '  I  know  no  other  course  to  be  pursued,  than  to  order  the  survivors  of  these  two 
Indian  families  to  be  sold  or  sent  back  to  Louisiana.'  What  was  done  in  conse 
quence,  may  be  seen  by  the  following  resolution,  extracted  from  the  Registers 
of  the  India  Company,  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  Court  of  Accounts — 'It 
was  resolved  to  order  the  sale  of  the  survivors  of  the  said  two  families  of  Natches 
Indians.'  At  the  time  when  this  order  was  given,  the  India  Company  was 
claiming  the  glory  of  civilizing  the  very  people,  whose  chiefs  were  thus  sold  as 
slaves." — Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,  by  Barbe  Marbois. 

Bienville,  on  his  way  from  Louisiana  in  1733,  stopped  at  Cape  Francais,  from 
which  he  wrote  thus  to  the  Minister  at  Paris,  on  the  23rd  of  January: 

"At  this  place,  I  saw  the  Chiefs  of  the  Natches,  who  are  here  as  slaves,  and 
among  them  the  one  named  St.  Come,  who  had  been  induced  to  believe,  that 
they  would  be  allowed  to  return  with  me,  to  their  country.  They  assured  me, 
that  their  nation  alone  was  engaged  in  the  revolt,  that  they  had  been  forced  to  it 
by  the  hard  usage  to  which  they  were  subjected,  and  that  they  had  resolved  upon 
it,  without  consulting  any  of  the  other  nations.'1— Gayarre,  vol.  1,  page  292. 


1731.]        THE   NATCHES   CEASE   TO   EXIST  AS   A   NATION.  411 

After  this  period,  the  Natches  never  constituted  a  distinct  na 
tion.  Bands  of  them,  for  some  time,  roved  over  the  country  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  occasionally  attacking  the  Tunicas  and  other 
Indians  in  alliance  with  the  French ;  the  greater  part  however 
became  incorporated  with  the  Chickasas,  and  the  Muscoghees, 
in  each  of  which  confederacies,  they  still  form  separate  tribes, 
retaining  their  own  language  and  many  of  their  customs,  in  the 
manner  usually  practised  among  the  aboriginal  nations  of 
America.  The  determination  displayed  by  this  people  in  their 
resistance  to  the  French  has  created  for  them  an  interest  which 
seems  to  have  been,  strangely  enough,  increased  by  the  peculiar 
ferocity  of  their  character  and  the  loathsomeness  of  their  customs; 
and  historians  have  dwelt  upon  their  destruction  with  expressions 
of  regret,  and  novelists  have  endeavored  to  excite  feelings  of 
sympathy  in  their  behalf,*  which  when  viewed  through  the  cold 
medium  of  reason,  are  utterly  at  variance  with  justice  or  good 
taste.  The  patches  in  fact,  with  all  the  superiority  of  intelligence 
and  refinement  over  surrounding  nations,  which  may  be  admitted 
as  pertaining  to  them,  were  barbarians,  in  the  most  objectionable 
sense  of  the  term,  whose  only  virtue  was  their  courage,  and  whose 
extinction  cannot  in  any  way  be  regarded  as  a  wrong  to  the  cause 
of  humanity. 

This  war,  of  course,  proved  very  costly  to  the  India  Company, 
as  the  troops,  with  all  the  arms/ammunition,  and  even  provisions, 
were  sent  from  France,  and  a  large  proportion  of  those  supplies, 
was  wasted  or  embezzled  on  the  way ;  and  that  body  having, 
according  to  the  Report  of  its  Directors,  expended  more  than 
twenty  millions  of  livres  on  Louisiana,  without  receiving,  or 
having  reason  to  expect  any  adequate  return,  then  resolved  to 
entreat  the  King  to  revoke  his  grant,  and  to  resume  the  entire 
possession  of  the  country.  A  petition  to  that  effect  was  ac 
cordingly  addressed  to  the  Crown  on  the  22d  of  January,  1731  ; 
and,  on  the  following  day,  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to  accede  to 
it,  on  the  condition  that  the  Company  should  pay  fourteen  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  livres,  in  the  course  of  the  ten  ensuing 
years,  as  compensation  for  the  benefits  which  the  colony  would 

*  Every  one  has  read  Chateaubriand's  famous  Tale  of  Atala  and  Chactas; 
though  very  few  are  probably  acquainted  with  the  long,  dull  mass  of  false  senti 
mentality,  called  "The  Natches,"  of  which  this  tale  is  an  episode. 


412  LOUISIANA    RETROCEDED    TO    FRANCE.  [1731. 

lose  from  the  withdrawal  of  the  supplies  of  merchandise  and 
negroes,  hitherto  furnished  by  the  association.  The  proposed 
condition  was  accepted,  and  the  retrocession  was  soon  after 
formally  effected  at  New  Orleans  ;  the  Crown  receiving  all  the 
property  of  the  Company  in  the  Province,  estimated  at  two 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  livres,  in  part  payment  of  the  debt 
due  to  it.*  A  general  settlement  of  accounts  was  then  made,  in 
a  summary  manner,  by  commissioners  who,  being  unable,  in 
most  cases,  to  recover  any  thing  from  the  debtors  to  the  Com 
pany,  gave  to  its  creditors  merely  acknowledgments  of  their 
claims,  accompanied  by  prohibitions  to  prosecute  that  body  for 
the  discharge  of  them  in  Europe ;  while  the  bills  issued  by  the 

*  The  following  translations  of  the  letter  from  the  Comptroller  General  of 
France,  to  the  Directors  of  the  India  Company,  and  of  their  resolution  upon  its 
contents,  show  the  terms  upon  which  Louisiana  was  retroceded  to  the  Crown : 

"  MARLY,  January  23. 

Gentlemen  :— I  have  communicated  to  His  Majesty,  the  report  06  the  delibera 
tions,  by  which  you  were  yesterday  authorised,  for  and  in  the  name  of  the  India 
Company,  to  pray  His  Majesty  most  humbly,  for  the  reasons  therein  set  forth, 
to  revoke  the  concession  of  the  colony  of  Louisiana,  reserving  to  the  India 
Company,  only  the  privilege  of  the  exclusive  commerce  of  that  colony,  upon  its 
engagement  to  supply  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana,  at  the  usual  prices  and 
terms,  five  hundred  negroes  annually,  with  all  that  may  be  required  for  their 
indispensable  wants,  or — what  would  be  still  more  advantageous  for  the  interests 
of  the  Company — to  accept  the  retrocession  of  this  privilege  of  commerce, 
which  the  Company  conceives  may  be  extremely  burdensome  to  it,  on  the  con 
dition  of  its  making  a  compensation  to  His  Majesty  for  such  engagement,  to  the 
extent  which  His  Majesty,  and  his  Council,  may  determine :  And  His  Majesty 
orders  me  to  inform  you  of  His  intentions  thereupon,  to  the  effect  that — being 
anxious  to  treat  the  India  Company  with  favor,  His  Majesty  has  reduced  the 
sum  of  three  millions  six  hundred  thousand  livres,  which  the  Secretary  of  State, 
for  the  Marine,  considered  as  a  proper  equivalent  for  the  renunciation  of  those 
commercial  engagements,  to  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  livres,  payable 
within  the  ensuing  ten  years,  namely — two  hundred  thousand  in  each  of  the 
first  three  years,  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  in  each  of  the  three  years 
next  following,  and  one  hundred  thousand  in  each  of  the  four  last  years.  On 
the  receipt  of  these  presents,  you  will  assemble,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
intentions  of  His  Majesty,  as  herein  expressed.  ORRY." 

The  acceptance  by  the  India  Company  is  thus  expressed  in  its  Registers : 

"On  this  24th  of  January,  1731,  in  the  Assembly  of  the  Syndics  and  Directors 
of  the  India  Company — the  letter  of  Monseigneur,  the  Comptroller  General  of 
the  Finances,  having  been  read,  it  was  determined  to  authorize  the  Syndics  and 
Directors  of  the  India  Company  to  submit,  for  and  in  the  name  of  the  said  Com 
pany,  to  pay  the  said  sum  of  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  livres,  according 
to  the  terms  prescribed  by  His  Majesty,  to  the  person  whom,  and  in  the  manner 
in  which,  His  Majesty  may  order,  lor  receiving  them." 


1728.]          PROSPECTS    OF    THE    FRENCH    IN    LOUISIANA.  413 

officers  and  agents  of  the  Company,  which  constituted  a  large 
portion  of  the  currency,  were  arbitrarily  driven  from  circulation, 
to  the  loss,  by  their  holders,  of  almost  their  entire  value.  Perier 
was  continued  in  the  government  until  the  beginning  of  1733, 
when  he  was  superseded  by  Bienville,  who  was  again  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  colony. 

Thus  ended  the  control  of  the  India  Company  in  Louisiana, 
after  thirteen  years  of  labors  and  vast  expenditures,  the  whole 
result  of  which,  had  been  the  establishment  of  about  six  thou 
sand  Europeans  and  Canadians,  and  two  thousand  negroes,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  A  foundation  had,  nevertheless, 
been  thus  laid,  for  the  effective  occupation  of  those  regions  by  the 
French  ;  and  with  moderate  assistance  from  the  parent  State, 
and  moderate  prudence  and  industry  among  its  inhabitants, 
Louisiana  might,  in  time,  have  rivalled  in  prosperity,  the  older 
provinces  of  the  English  on  the  Atlantic  coasts,  which  it  so  far 
surpassed  in  fertility,  and  in  every  other  advantage,  except  the 
important  one  of  vicinity  to  the  sea.  The  French  colony  wras, 
however,  unfortunately  under  the  dominion  of  a  despotic  govern 
ment,  subjected  to  regulations  arbitrarily  devised  in  a  distant 
court,  and  directed  by  persons  appointed,  and  sent  out  from  that 
court,  without  any  regard  for  the  happiness  or  welfare  of  its 
people:  whilst  the  English  provinces  were,  in  reality,  each  an 
almost  independent  State,  looking  to  the  mother  country  only  for 
protection  and  succor,  and  left,  with  little  interference  on  the 
part  of  the  central  power,  to  manage  its  own  affairs,  in  the  way 
most  conducive  to  its  own  welfare.  Every  encouragement  to 
exertion,  was  thus  offered  to  each  and  all  of  the  English  colonies, 
and  to  each  individual  within  their  limits ;  whilst  Louisiana  and 
Canada  were,  and  continued  to  be,  only  plantations  of  the  Crown, 
and  their  people  were  nearly  in  the  condition  of  serfs,  inferior, 
as  regarded  all  rights  and  privileges,  to  their  fellow  subjects  in 
Europe. 

That  there  was  no  incapacity  on  the  part  of  the  French,  at  that 
time,  to  render  Louisiana  a  flourishing  country,  sufficient  proof 
is  afforded  by  the  condition  of  their  colony  in  St.  Domingo, 
which,  under  a  liberal  system,  was  rapidly  rising  to  the  high 
state  of  prosperity,  afterwards  attained  by  it,  through  the  culti 
vation  of  sugar,  coffee  and  indigo^,  and  the  contraband  trade 


414  WAR    BETWEEN    ENGLAND    AND    SPAIN.  [1731. 

with  the  Spanish  possessions.  For  this  trade,  great  facilities 
were  also  offered  by  the  French  ports  on  the  Mexican  Gulf;  and 
the  climate  and  soil  of  the  adjoining  regions,  were  adapted  for  the 
growth  of  many  valuable  articles,  such  as  indigo,  sugar,  tobacco, 
and  rice,  while  abundant  supplies  of  provisions,  of  all  kinds, 
might  be  obtained  from  the  countries  farther  north.  The  same 
liberality  was  indeed  extended  to  Louisiana  in  1732,  when  all 
the  monopolies  previously  held  by  the  Company,  were  abolished, 
and  the  commerce  between  the  colony  and  France,  was  freed 
from  all  duties  on  exports  or  imports,  in  either  country,  many 
valuable  privileges  being  moreover  accorded  to  the  vessels  en 
gaged  in  it.  These  benefits  were,  however,  as  will  be  shown, 
all  neutralized  by  untoward  circumstances,  arising  in  part  from 
the  selfishness  and  ambition  of  those  entrusted  with  the  immediate 
direction  of  the  colony,  which  effectually  arrested  its  advance 
ment,  and  prevented  it  from  ever  becoming,  other  than  an  ex 
pensive  and  burdensome  appendage  to  the  mother  country. 

War  had  in  the  meantime  again  broken  out,  between  England 
and  Spain,  in  consequence  of  the  insane  desire  of  Philip  V.  to 
regain  the  possession  of  Gibraltar,  which  impelled  him  to  direct 
a  large  armament  against  that  fortress,  in  the  beginning  of  1727. 
The  English  were  however  prepared,  and  the  siege,  though  long 
continued,  proved  unavailing.  By  this  time,  relations  of  the  most 
intimate  nature,  had  been  restored,  between  France  and  Spain, 
by  the  conciliatory  efforts  of  the  French  minister,  Cardinal  Fleu- 
ry,  through  whose  mediation  the  hostilities  were  arrested :  there 
is  even  reason  to  believe  that  King  George  I.  had  resolved  to  de 
liver  up  Gibraltar  to  Spain ;  but  this  project,  if  entertained,  was 
defeated  by  the  death  of  that  monarch  in  June,  1727,  and  it  could 
find  no  favor  with  his  successor  George  II.  In  order  to  settle 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  on  a  firm  basis,  a  Congress  of  representa 
tives  of  the  great  powers  was  then  assembled  at  Soissons,  which 
like  that  of  Cambray,  ended  only  by  increasing  the  general  dis 
satisfaction.  Fleury  and  the  English  minister  Walpole  who  was  no 
less  peacefully  inclined,  nevertheless  persevered  ;  and  a  treaty  of 
alliance,  similar  to  that  of  Madrid,  was  at  length  concluded  at 
Seville,  in  November,  1729,  between  England,  France  and  Spain. 
According  to  this  treaty,  all  things  were  to  be  restored  to  the 
same  state  as  in  1725,  and  commissaries  were  to  be  appointed 


1731.]  PROSPERITY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    COLONIES.  415 

by  the  English  and  Spanish  Governments,  to  examine  and  de 
cide  upon  all  their  claims  and  differences,  as  to  commerce  and 
navigation,  "  as  well  in  the  Indies  as  in  Europe,  and  upon  all 
other  pretensions  of  the  two  powers,  in  America,  founded  on 
treaties,  whether  with  respect  to  limits  or  otherwise."  This  last 
provision,  so  extensive  in  its  bearings,  underwent  the  fate  to  which 
those  of  a  similar  character  have  been  almost  universally  subject 
ed:  the  commissaries  were,  after  long  delays,  appointed,  and  they 
met  at  Madrid  in  February,  1732,  and  presented  memorials  of  the 
claims  of  their  respective  nations,  which  were  reciprocally  declar 
ed  inadmissable ;  they  were  then  after  much  wrangling  recalled, 
and  the  controversy  was  resumed  between  their  governments, 
with  additional  violence  on  both  sides.  The  Spaniards  rendered 
their  prohibitory  regulations  as  to  trade  and  navigation  more 
stringent,  and  increased  the  numbers  of  their  guarda-costas; 
while  the  English  took  other  measures,  more  decisively  injurious 
as  will  be  seen,  to  the  supremacy  of  their  rivals  in  the  New  World. 
The  English  provinces  in  America  were  then  in  the  full  enjoy 
ment  of  peace  and  prosperity,  though  each  of  them  was  engaged 
in  disputes  with  the  government  of  the  mother  country,  on  account 
of  some  real  or  fancied  grievance.  In  Carolina,  the  opposition  of 
the  people,  to  the  proprietors  was  so  constant  and  violent,  that  the 
latter  were  at  length  in  1729,  glad  to  dispose  of  their  rights  to 
the  Crown;  one  of  them,  Lord  Carteret  receiving,  in  place  of 
the  money  paid  to  the  others,  a  tract  nearly  sixty  miles  in 
breadth  from  the  southern  boundary  of  Virginia,  which  was  de 
clared  to  extend  across  the  Continent,  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
to  the  Pacific.  North  Carolina  then  contained  six  thousand 
white  inhabitants,  and  half  that  number  of  negroes — somewhat 
exceeding  Louisiana  in  both  those  classes  of  population.  South 
Carolina  with  the  same  number  of  inhabitants  of  European  race, 
had  at  least  ten  thousand  African  slaves.  The  condition  of  the 
latter  province  was  highly  satisfactory :  the  negroes  indeed  some 
times  gave  cause  for  uneasiness,  and  the  Cherokees  steadily  re 
sisted  the  advance  of  the  English  towards  the  upper  countries, 
which  were  in  the  end  settled  by  emigrants  from  Virginia,  and 
the  more  northern  colonies ;  and  the  yellow  fever,  which  first  ap 
peared  in  America  in  1729  among  the  Spanish  guarda-costas  at 
Carthagena,  soon  after  broke  out  at  Charleston,  and  carried  off  a 


416          STEADY  ADVANCE  OF  THE  ENGLISH  FRONTIERS.       [1731. 

large  number  of  persons.  But  for  all  these  evils,  abundant  com 
pensation  was  afforded  by  the  advantages  of  soil  and  climate, 
attracting  emigrants  thither  from  many  parts  of  Europe,  especially 
after  the  introduction  of  the  culture  of  rice,  which  then  began  to 
form  the  staple  production  of  the  country. 

There  were  few,  if  any  white  inhabitants,  in  either  of  the  pro 
vinces  of  Carolina  west  of  the  falls  of  the  rivers.  In  Virginia, 
settlements  were  formed  in  the  easternmost  vallies  between  the 
lines  of  mountains,  which  compose  the  Apalachian  or  Allegany 
chain ;  and  the  traders  and  hunters  of  that  colony  had  penetrated 
to  the  Ohio,  and  even  to  the  vicinity  of  the  French  posts  on  the 
Wabash  and  the  Illinois.  Farther  north,  the  governments  and 
the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Connecticut,  Massachu 
setts  and  New  Hampshire,  were  steadily  engaged  in  conciliating 
or  subduing  the  Indians  on  their  western  frontiers,  in  which  the 
French  of  Canada  were  using  every  effort  to  counteract  them. 
The  English  interest  however  prevailed  among  the  Iroquois ;  and 
in  1726  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Albany  between  the  chiefs  of 
the  Senekas,  Cayugas  and  Onondagas,  on  the  one  part,  ami  com 
missioners  from  the  Government  of  New  York,  on  the  other,  by 
which  the  Indians  ceded  to  the  King  of  England,  a  tract  of  coun 
try  sixty  miles  in  breadth,  extending  from  Oswego  westward 
along  Lake  Ontario,  the  Niagara  and  Lake  Erie,  to  Cuyahoga 
creek,  emptying  into  the  latter  lake  where  the  City  of  Cleveland 
in  Ohio  now  stands — "to  be  protected  by  his  said  majesty,  his 
heirs  and  successors  for  ever,  to  and  for  the  use  of  us  [the  In 
dians,]  our  heirs,  and  successors  and  the  said  three  nations." 
This  treaty,  it  will  be  afterwards  seen,  was  regarded  by  the  Eng 
lish  as  an  absolute  cession,  in  virtue  of  which,  lands  in  those 
territories  were  freely  granted  to  their  subjects;  and  the  alleged 
violation  by  the  French,  of  the  rights  thus  supposed  to  have  been 
acquired,  was  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  war  between  the 
two  nations  begun  in  1754.  By  similar  agreements  with  the  In 
dians,  as  well  as  by  the  steady  advance  of  their  settlements,  the 
people  of  New  England  were  extending  their  occupation  effectively 
eastward,  in  which  direction  they  had  advanced  nearly  to  the  River 
of  St.  John;  though  the  French  still  claimed  the  Kennebec  as 
their  western  boundary  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  as  well  as  the  whole 
territory  bordering  upon  the  Gulf  and  River  of  St.  Lawrence. 


1731.]  CONDITION    OF    FLORIDA    AND    TEXAS.  417 

The  Marquis  de  Beauharnais,  Governor  General  of  Canada, 
was  meanwhile  no  less  actively  engaged  in  strengthening  the 
whole  line  of  fortifications  on  the  frontiers  of  his  province,  from 
Fort  Ouayatenons,  on  the  Wabash,  afterwards  called  Vincennes, 
to  the  peninsula  of  Acadie;  and  in  1730  he  established  a  new 
fortified  post  on  Crown  Point,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain, 
which  proved  no  less  annoying  to  the  English,  than  their  Fort 
Oswego  was  to  the  French.  The  Marquis,  likewise  endeavored 
to  extend  the  discovery  of  the  Continent  westward  if  possible  to 
the  Pacific,  for  which  purpose,  special  privileges  were  granted 
to  M.  Verendrye  a  trader;  he  however  effected  nothing  of  conse 
quence,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  royal  government  refusing  all  the 
petitions  addressed  to  it  by  Beauharnais  and  his  successors,  for 
the  appropriation  of  money  to  such  enterprises. 

The  Spanish  provinces  adjoining  Louisiana  remained,  during 
this  period,  nearly  stationary  in  population  and  in  all  other  respects. 
In  Florida,  the  only  settlements  were  those  of  St.  Augustine,  St. 
Mark  and  Pensacola,  with  a  few  intermediate  posts,  which  were 
supported  entirely  by  the  expenditures  of  the  government  on 
fortifications,  and  in  the  payment  of  civil  and  military  officers,  and 
garrisons,  with  their  dependants.  Yet,  the  Governors  of  that 
country  claimed  jurisdiction,  at  least  as  far  northward  as  the  Sa 
vannah,  and  were  constantly  endeavoring,  by  intrigues  with  the 
Indians  and  negroes,  to  harrass  or  destroy  the  "  intrusive"  Eng 
lish  posts,  within  those  limits,  especially  the  fort  at  the  junction 
of  the  Oconee  and  the  Ocmulgee,  which  was  a  perpetual  source 
of  annoyance  and  irritation  to  the  Spaniards. 

In  Texas,  the  same  want  of  method  and  energy  prevailed. 
The  forts  and  missions  were  maintained,  but  very  inadequately ; 
the  garrisons  having  seldom  more  than  half  of  their  complement 
of  men,  and  the  missionaries  being  unable,  from  their  extreme 
poverty,  to  acquire  any  influence  over  the  natives.  The  Mar 
quis  de  Aguayo,  had  indeed,  after  long  solicitation,  obtained 
orders  from  Madrid,  for  the  establishment  of  two  hundred  fami- 
les  from  the  Canary  Islands,  and  as  many  from  Tlascala,  at  the 
points  selected  by  him  for  towns ;  a  long  period,  however, 
elapsed,  before  any  thing  was  dope,  and  when  seventeen  families 
from  each  place  had  been  transported  to  San  Antonio,  the  orders 
were  considered  as  fulfilled.  This  immigration  took  place  in  1729 ; 
53 


418  SPANIARDS    IN    TEXAS    ANNOYED    BY    INDIANS.        [1731; 

the  people  were  all  established  near  the  fortress  of  Bexar,  and  their 
settlement  received  the  name  of  San  Fernando,  in  honor  of  the 
Prince  of  the  Asturias,  afterwards  King  Ferdinand  VI.,  though  it 
was  more  commonly  known  by  its  present  appellation  of  San 
Antonio.  The  principal  missions  were  those  of  Nuestra  Senora 
de  Concepcion  de  Acufia,  San  Juan  Capistrano,  and  San  Fran 
cisco  de  la  Espada,  all  on  the  San  Antonio  river,  within  a  short 
distance  from  Bexar;  they  wrere  established  by  the  Marquis  de 
Casafuerte,  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  1731,  though  the  vast  and 
noble  edifices  belonging  to  them,  which  now  excite  universal 
admiration,  wrere  not  commenced  until  a  much  later  period. 

The  Spaniards  had  not  been  long  established  in  Texas,  ere 
they  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Apaches  and  Camanches,  those 
Arabs  of  the  desert  of  New  Mexico,  the  irreconcilable  foes  of 
all  who  owned  horses  and  cattle.  In  1724,  a-  party  of  Apaches 
surprised  the  fort  of  Loreto,  erected  by  Aguayo  on  the  site 
of  La  Salle's  Fort  St.  Louis,  and  plundered  it,  after  killing, the 
Commandant  Diego  Ramon,  and  many  of  his  soldiers;  and  in 
1730,  San  Antonio  was  beset  by  a  host  of  savages,  who  carried 
off  nearly  all  the  cattle.  In  the  following  year,  an  expedition 
was  made  by  Don  Pedro  de  Ribera,  the  Governor,  with  a  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  for  the  purpose  of  checking  the  audacity  of  these 
Indians,  who  were  defeated,  according  to  the  report  of  that  officer, 
with  great  loss ;  but  no  effect  was  produced,  and  the  colony  was 
ever  after  exposed  to  similar  inroads,  which  checked  its  advance 
ment  as  effectually,  as  that  of  Louisiana  was  arrested,  by  the 
enmity  of  the  Natches  and  the  Chickasas. 


CHAPTER    XIII 


1  732    TO     1  749. 


BlENVILLE  AGAIN  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA FOUNDATION  OF 

THE  ENGLISH  COLONY  OF  GEORGIA — UNFORTUNATE  EXPE 
DITION  OF  THE  FRENCH  AGAINST  THE  CHICKASAS — WAR 
BETWEEN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  SPAIN — UNSUCCESSFUL  EX 
PEDITION  OF  THE  ENGLISH  AGAINST  FLORIDA,  AND  OF  THE 
SPANIARDS  AGAINST  GEORGIA — THE  LINES  OF  SEPARATION 
BETWEEN  LOUISIANA  AND  THE  ADJOINING  SPANISH  PRO 
VINCES  RECOGNIZED  BY  BOTH  NATIONS BlENVILLE  SUPER 
SEDED  BY  VAUDREUIL — GENERAL  WAR.  IN  EUROPE — RE 
NEWAL  OF  DISPUTES  BETWEEN  THE  FRENCH  AND  THE 

INDIANS— DEATH  OF  THE  RED  SHOE — PEACE  OF  Aix  LA 
CHAPELLE. 

WHATSOEVER  may  have  been  the  views  of  the  French  Govern 
ment  in  resuming  the  possession  of  Louisiana,  its  first  measures 
appeared  to  be  generally  favorable  to  the  advancement  of  the 
colony.  The  commercial  restrictions  of  the  India  Company,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  government,  were  nearly  all  removed;  and 
the  opening  of  the  trade  with  the  West  Indies  afforded  a  market 
for  the  timber  and  turpentine  of  the  province,  in  which  a  few 
vessels  were  soon  employed.  Many  useless  and  expensive -offices 
were  abolished;  and  the  colonial  council  was  reorganized  on  a 
plan  calculated  to  render  it  more  useful  and  efficient,  by  enforcing 
the  accountability  of  the  officers  of  the  government,  and  in  some 
measure  to  supply  the  want  of  a  legislative  assembly,  as  six  of 
its  thirteen  members  were  chosen  from  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country.  Perier  was,  as  already  said,  retained  in  the  com 
mand  until  the  spring  of  1733,  when  Bienville  again  took  his 
place  as  Governor  General. 


420  CONDITION    OF    LOUISIANA.  [1733. 

Bienville  was  then  fifty-four  years  old.  He  had  passed  nearly 
the  half  of  his  life  in  Louisiana,  in  situations  which  enabled  him 
to  obtain  a  more  minute  knowledge  of  the  country  and  its  affairs, 
than  any  one  else  could  have  possessed  ;  his  views  for  its  ad 
vancement,  were  in  general  reasonable,  and  he  hoped  to  carry 
some  of  them  into  execution,  as  he,  for  the  first  time  perhaps, 
enjoyed  the  entire  confidence  of  the  government.  He  had  how 
ever  a  most  difficult  task  to  perform.  His  reports  as  to  the  state 
of  the  colony  on  his  arrival,  present  indeed  a  discouraging,  if  not 
disgusting  picture  of  vice  and  misery.  New  Orleans,  the  object 
of  his  fondest  anticipations,  was  a  filthy  receptacle  of  starving 
vagabonds,  black  and  white.  The  Chickasas  and  Natches  had 
complete  possession  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Ohio  to  the 
Yazoo,  and  extended  their  depredations  southward  to  Point 
Coupee,  which  had  been  ravaged  by  them  in  the  preceding  year. 
The  plantations  were  annually  desolated  by  hurricanes  or  inun 
dations,  and  many  of  them  had  been  abandoned,  from  these 
causes,  or  from  the  uncertainty  of  the  tenure  of  the  lands,  and 
disputes  respecting  limits,  which  were  undetermined  either  by 
general  regulations  or  by  express  provisions  in  any  case ;  while 
the  habitans  or  small  proprietors,  were  reduced  to  wild  fruits,  roots 
and  seeds,  for  support.  The  currency  consisted  only  of  depre 
ciated  paper ;  trade  was  embarrassed  and  almost  extinguished ; 
and  the  population,  under  the  pressure  of  these  various  evils, 
was  daily  diminishing  in  numbers,  from  death  and  emigration. 

Almost  every  colony  has  been  subjected  to  similar  trials  in  its 
infancy ;  and  there  was  reason  to  hope,  that  tranquillity  and  the 
establishment  of  a  better  system  of  administration,  in  the  country, 
would  inspire  confidence,  and  thus  produce  a  disposition  among 
the  people,  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages  offered  in  such 
abundance,  by  nature.  To  these  ends,  Bienville's  first  efforts 
were  directed  ;  but  they  proved  fruitless.  He  could  only  substi 
tute,  for  the  paper  found  in  use  as  money,  other  paper,  equally 
without  security,  as  to  the  maintenance  of  its  declared  value.  The 
large  landed  proprietors  residing  in  France,  had  interest  at  court, 
sufficient  to  prevent  investigations  of  their  titles ;  and  the  minis 
ters  refused  all  the  solicitations  of  the  governor,  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  college  at  New  Orleans,  and  schools  in  other 
places,  on  the  ground  of  their  expensiveness.  Unfortunately 


1733.]  INCREASE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    COLONIES.  421 

moreover,  an  old  feud  existed  between  the  Governor  and  M. 
Diron  d'Artaguette  the  Royal  Commissary  and  Commandant  of 
Mobile,  which  was  increased  by  several  circumstances,  after  the 
return  of  Bienville  to  Louisiana. 

In  -order  to  relieve  the  country  from  the  visitations  of  the 
Chickasas,  and  at  the  same  time  to  inspire  the  other  Indian  nations 
with  more  respect  for  the  French,  Bienville  exerted  himself  in 
the  first  place,  to  regain  his  former  influence  over  the  Choctas, 
in  which  he  however  found  greater  difficulty,  than  he  had  antici 
pated,  in  consequence  of  the  increase  of  English  traders  among 
that  people.  The  Choctas  were  only  to  be  won,  by  trade  and 
presents ;  the  English  made  few  presents,  but  they  traded  on 
more  liberal  terms,  than  the  French  could  offer,  as  the  latter  had 
no  market  for  deer  skins,  the  only  articles  presented  by  the  In 
dians,  in  exchange  for  European  goods.  Bienville  distributed 
presents  as  freely  as  he  could,  and  he  raised  the  price  to  be  paid 
for  Chickasa  scalps  ;  but  he  was  unable  to  overthrow  the  moral 
effect  of  the  increasing  numbers  of  the  English,  and  the  wealth 
and  power  exhibited  by  them,  when  compared  with  what  was 
seen  among  the  French. 

The  influence  of  the  English  in  those  countries  was  moreover, 
about  the  same  period,  considerably  extended  and  strengthened 
by  the  establishment  of  a  new  province,  under  a  charter  from  the 
crown,  in  the  territory  south  of  the  Savannah.  Several  proposi 
tions  had  been  addressed  to  the  British  government,  as  already 
said,  for  the  occupation  of  this  territory,  which  was  included  in  the 
second  charter  of  Carolina,  granted  in  1665 ;  but  they  had  been 
unfavorably  received,  principally  from  the  unwillingness  of  the 
Ministry,  to  increase  the  grounds  of  dispute  with  Spain.  In 
1732  however,  when  all  expectation  of  terminating  the  discus 
sions  with  that  power,  had  proved  vain,  a  charter  was  given  by 
King  George  II.,*  to  a  number  of  persons  as  trustees,  for  the 

*Thc  charter,  dated  June  9,  1732,  describes  the  new  province  as — "  seven  un 
divided  parts,  (the  whole  into  eight  equal  parts  to  be  divided,)  of  all  those  lands, 
countries  and  territories,  situate,  lying  and  being  in  that  part  of  South  Carolina, 
in  America,  which  lies  from  the  most  northern  stream  of  the  river,  there  com 
monly  called  Savannah,  all  along  the  sea  coast  to  the  southward,  unto  the  most 
southern  stream  of  a  certain  other  great  water,  or  river,  called  Alatamaha,  and 
westward  from  the  heads  of  the  said  rivers  respectively,  in  direct  lines  to  the 
South  seas.1' 


422  FOUNDATION    OF    THE     COLONY    OF    GEORGIA.          [1733. 

foundation  and  maintenance  of  a  colony,  to  be  called  Georgia, 
which  was  to  embrace  within  its  limits,  seven-eighths  of  the 
\vhole  division  of  America,  extending  from  the  Atlantic  west 
ward  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Alatamaha,  and  between 
parallels  of  latitude  drawn  from  the  sources  of  those  rivers,  to 
the  Pacific.  The  trustees  were  to  have  the  entire  direction  of 
the  colony,  under  certain  restrictions,  for  twenty-one  years,  at  the 
end  of  which  it  was  to  revert  to  the  crown  ;  their  services  were 
to  be  gratuitous,  and  all  rents  and  other  profits  derived  from  the 
country,  while  under  their  superintendence,  were  to  be  employed 
for  its  advantage.  This  scheme  was  devised  by  James  Oglethorpe, 
a  gallant  and  enthusiastic  gentleman,  who  had  served  with  dis 
tinction  in  the  army  and  in  parliament ;  his  object  being  to  pro 
vide  an  asylum  for  the  poor  and  distressed,  not  only  of  the  British 
dominions,  but  of  all  other  Protestant  countries,  as  well  as  to 
form  a  rampart  in  the  south,  against  the  progress  of  the  French 
and  the  Spaniards,  to  both  of  which  nations  he  bore  all  the  hatred 
of  a  true  born  Englishman.  Agreeably  to  the'system  adopted  by 
the  trustees  at  his  suggestion,  not  more  than  five  hundred  acres 
of  ground  could  be  granted  to  any  one  individual ;  and  the  lands 
so  conceded,  were  to  be  entailed  on  the  eldest  male  descendants 
of  the  grantee,  in  default  of  whom,  they  were  to  revert  to  the 
colony;  slavery  and  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  were  entirely 
prohibited;  the  Indians  were  to  be  protected  against  the  tyranny 
or  cunning  of  the  white  people  ;  religion  and  morality  were  to 
be  encouraged  and  enforced  by  laws,  and  many  other  regulations 
were  made,  equally  unexceptionable  in  the  abstract,  and  equally 
unsuitable,  as  was  soon  demonstrated,  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  were  to  be  applied. 

The  cautious  Walpole  was  opposed  to  the  establishment  of  this 
colony,  which  could  not  fail  to  prove  an  obstacle  to  the  mainten 
ance  of  his  policy  of  peace.  Oglethorpe  however  prevailed ;  he 
obtained  large  amounts  of  money  from  individuals,  in  aid  of  the 
enterprise,  and  having  been  appointed  Governor  of  Georgia,  by  the 
trustees,  he  sailed  with  a  number  of  settlers  for  the  new  province, 
where' they  arrived  in  January  1733.  Lands  were  immediately 
distributed  to  the  people,  agreeably  to  the  regulations,  and  the 
towns  of  Savannah,  Ebenezer  and  Augusta  were  founded  ;  the 
first  near  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah,  and  the  last  at  its  falls. 


J733.]          ALARM    AND    JEALOUSY    OF    THE     SPANIARDS.  423 

Oglethorpe  then  convened  an  assembly  of  chiefs  of  the  Indian 
tribes,  occupying  the  adjacent  regions,  with  whom  he  made  a 
treaty,  conveying  to  Great  Britain,  the  absolute  possession  of  the 
whole  territory  and  islands  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Alata- 
maha,  except  certain  small  portions,  reserved  to  the  savages; 
and  he  soon  after  entered  into  similar  territorial  and  commercial 
conventions,  with  the  Muscoghees  and  the  Choctas,  from  the 
latter  of  which  nations,  the  Red  Shoe  appeared,  as  the  plenipo 
tentiary,  at  Augusta,  in  1734. 

In  all  these  proceedings  of  the  English,  with  respect  to  Georgia, 
the  claims  of  the  French  and  the  Spaniards  to  countries  first  dis 
covered  and  occupied  by  them,  were  utterly  disregarded  ;  Ogle 
thorpe  being  resolved,  either  by  charters  from  his  sovereign,  or  by 
treaties  with  the  Indians,  to  assert  the  right  of  expelling  the 
people  of  the  other  nations,  from  the  whole  division  of  America, 
bordering  upon  the  northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  The 
Spaniards  looked  with  alarm,  at  this  new  encroachment  upon 
what  they  considered  as  their  own  territory:  their  ambassador  at 
London  protested  solemnly  against  the  establishment  of  the  new 
colony,  but  of  course  without  effect ;  and  foreseeing  a  collision 
between  the  two  races  in  that  quarter,  they  began  to  strengthen 
their  fortifications  at  St.  Augustine,  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola, 
and  to  increase  their  garrisons  in  those  places.  The  danger 
to  the  French  was  more  remote,  and  the  good  understanding 
between  their  Court  and  that  of  England,  was  not  disturbed  by 
the  establishment  of  the  new  colony.  The  Governor  of  Louisiana 
however,  viewred  the  matter  in  a  more  serious  light,  and  in  order 
to  provide,  in  time,  against  the  evils,  which  he  apprehended,  he 
strengthened  the  garrison  of  Fort  Toulouse  on  the  upper  Alabama, 
and  he  urged  the  ministers  in  France  to  afford  him  the  means  of 
effectually  arresting  the  inroads  of  the  Chickasas. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Red  Shoe  came  back  from  Augusta,  in 
the  autumn  of  1734,  much  dissatisfied  with  the  presents  and 
honors  paid  to  him  by  the  English;  and  D'Artaguette  took 
advantage  of  this  disposition,  to  engage  him  and  his  warriors 
in  an  attack  upon  the  Chickasas,  for  which  he  requested  the 
Governor  to  furnish  one  hundred  soldiers  to  be  commanded  by 
himself,  and  a  large  supply  of  ammunition.  Bienville,  however, 
cither  from  distrust  of  the  Red  Shoe,  whose  influence  he  under- 


424  ACCOUNT    OF    THE     CHICKASA     COUNTRY.  [1734. 

valued,  or  from  that  jealousy  which  seems  to  have  predomi 
nated  in  him  over  all  other  considerations,  refused  to  grant  more 
than  thirty  men,  who  were  to  be  sent  under  Le  Sueur.  The 
Choctas  were  in  consequence  disappointed ;  and  although  they 
behaved  gallantly,  especially  the  Red  Shoe  who  distinguished 
himself  in  the  attack  of  a  Chickasa  town,  no  other  results  were 
obtained,  of  greater  importance,  than  the  taking  of  a  fe\v  scalps, 
for  which  heavy  demands  were  made  on  the  French  at  Mobile. 
Bienville,  who  had  repaired  to  that  place  in  order  to  meet  the 
Choctas,  acceded  to  their  demands;  and  he  moreover  prevailed 
upon  them  to  assist  him,  in  an  expedition  against  their  common 
enemies,  from  which  he  hoped  to  obtain  reputation  for  himself, 
and  security  for  the  colony,  the  great  object  of  his  solicitude. 

The  Chickasas  were  a  small  nation,  probably  not  exceeding 
six  thousand  persons,  who  occupied  a  fertile  territory,  immediately 
adjoining  that  of  the  Choctas  on  the  north,  and  at  present  in 
cluded  in  the  counties  of  Fayette,  Chickasa  and  Pontotoc  in  the 
State  of  Mississippi,  between  the  head  waters  of  the  great  western 
branch  of  the  Mobile,  now  called  the  Tombigbee,  and  those  of 
the  Yazoo  emptying  into  the  Mississippi.  They  dwelt  in  several 
villages  situated  near  each  other,  for  mutual  defence,  and  they 
cultivated  the  earth,  though  their  principal  support  was  derived 
from  hunting,  for  which  they  maintained  exclusive  possession  of 
the  country,  farther  north,  to  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
Cherokee  or  Tennessee.  On  the  west,  they  were  separated  from 
the  Mississippi  by  a  wide  tract  of  morass,  bordering  upon  that 
river,  for  more  than  two  hundred  miles,  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Yazoo,  to  that  of  the  Margot  or  Wolf  River,  at  the  foot  of  the 
southernmost  of  the  cliffs  now  known  as  the  Chickasa  Bluffs, 
where  the  flourishing  city  of  Memphis,  in  Tennessee,  is  situated. 
This  was  the  nearest  point  of  the  Mississippi  accessible  to  the 
Chickasas,  whose  name  for  the  great  stream — Sak-ti-halafa 
Okinna — signified  a  River  at  a  precipitous  high  place. 

The  bravery  of  the  Chickasas  and  their  skill  in  war,  had 
already  become  proverbial  among  the  Indian  nations :  but 
they  were  now  to  be  brought  into  collision  with  a  civilized 
people,  among  whom  military  science  had  been  most  extensively 
cultivated,  and  military  renown  was  most  highly  prized  ;  and 
preparations  were  made  for  attacking  them,  on  a  scale  of  such 


1735.]       FRENCH    EXPEDITION    AGAINST    THE    CHICKASAS.       425 


magnitude,  as  apparently  to  insure  the  success  of  the  French. 
For  this  purpose  every  means  at  the  disposition  of  the  colony 
was  employed ;  men  were  collected  and  armed  and  trained  at  all 
the  posts,  and  additional  supplies  of  arms,  ammunition  and  heavy 
artillery  were  earnestly  requested  from  France,  while  the  fidelity 
of  the  Choctas  was  maintained  at  a  great  expense,  by  presents. 

According  to  Bienville's  plan,  the  troops  were  to  be  divided  into 
two  bodies,  which  were  to  move  simultaneously  from  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  Mobile,  on  the  principal  town  of  the  Chickasas, 
called  Chooka-falaya,  or  the  Long-house  ;  and  it  was  hoped  that 
the  Indians  thus  enclosed,  wTould  either  be  crushed,  or  be  driven 
upon  their  enemies,  the  Cherokees  in  the  north-east,  or  on  the 
Shawnees,  Miamis  and  Illinois  beyond  the  Ohio.  The  largei 
body  composing  the  Choctas  and  all  the  French  of  the  lower 
country  who  could  be  spared,  was  to  be  commanded  by  the  Gov 
ernor  in  person  ;  a  rendezvous  being  appointed  for  them  on  the 
western  branch  of  the  Mobile,  fifty  miles  above  its  confluence 
with  the  Tuscaloosa  or  Black  Warrior  river,  where  a  post  called 
Fort  Tombecbe  was  established  on  a  cliff  overhanging  the 
stream  on  the  west.*  The  other  party,  consisting  of  the  regular 
troops,  settlers  and  Indians,  from  the  Illinois  and  the  Wabash,  was 
to  be  assembled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Margot,  where  they  were  to 
be  joined  by  those  from  the  Arkansas  and  other  points  on  the 
Mississippi;  and  they  were  thence  to  march  south-east  to  the  point 
of  attack,  under  young  D'Artaguette,  the  nephew  of  the  Com 
missary,  who  was  Commandant  of  the  Illinois. 

The  period  first  appointed  for  the  assemblage  of  these  two  bo 
dies,  at  their  respective  places  of  rendezvous,  was  the  beginning 
of  1736,  so  that  the  attack  might  be  made  from  both  sides,  on  the 
1st  of  March;  but  the  arms,  supplies  and  reinforcements,  expect 
ed  from  France  not  arriving  at  that  period,  the  commencement 
of  operations  was  deferred  until  the  month  of  May  following.  In 

*The  place  is  now  known  as  Jones'  Bluff,  in  Sumpter  County,  in  the  State  of 
Alabama.  The  name  of  the  fort,  which  has  since  been  given  to  the*  great 
western  branch  of  the  Mobile,  and  is  now  usually  written  Tombigbee,  signified, 
according  to  the  Choctas  of  the  present  day,  the  place  where  boxes  are  made, 
from  a  tradition  that  a  French  carpenter  had  first  settled  there,  who  made  boxes 
for  the  natives  :  Romans,  however,  derives  it  from  Ec-tom-bogue-bee,  meaning 
Crooked  creek,  which  he  says,  was  the  name  of  the  small  stream,  flowing  by 
the  fort  into  the  river. 
54 


426  BIENVILLE    ASCENDS     THE    TOMBIGBEE.  [1736. 

the  meantime,  a  boat  laden  with  gunpowder,  had  been  sent  from 
New  Orleans  for  the  use  of  the  northern  division,  under  the  charge 
of  an  officer  who  thought  proper  to  leave  the  ammunition  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  in  order  to  make  room  in  the  boat  for 
goods  of  his  own.  It  became  necessary  in  consequence  to  des 
patch  another  officer  with  some  men  from  Fort  Chartres,  in  order 
to  bring  the  powder  to  the  mouth  of  the  Margot ;  and  this  party 
on  reaching  the  latter  place  were  surprised  by  the  Chickasas,  who 
killed  nearly  all  of  them,  and  made  prisoners  of  the  others,  ob 
taining  at  the  same  time  an  abundant  supply  of  powder,  the  arti 
cle  most  needed  by  them.  Soon  after  this  unfortunate  occur 
rence,  D'Artaguette  arrived  at  the  place  appointed,  with  a  small 
number  of  French  and  Indians  from  the  Illinois,  and  others  from 
the  Wabash  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Canada,  under  Francois 
de  Vincennes,  Commandant  of  Fort  Ouayatenons,  now  Vincennes. 
A  detachment  of  similar  forces  from  the  lower  Mississippi  was 
also,  agreeably  to  the  arrangements,  to  join  them  at  the  same 
place  under  M.  de  Montcherval ;  but  as  they  did  not  appear  in 
the  middle  of  April,  when  the  march  was  to  be  commenced,  and 
the  Indian  allies  of  the  French  were  becoming  restless,  D'Arta 
guette  departed  with  forty-one  regular  soldiers,  ninety-nine  volun 
teers,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  Indians,  in  the  direction  of 
the  Chickasa  towns. 

Bienville  was  in  the  meantime  still  at  Mobile,  anxiously  await 
ing  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements,  and  above  all,  of  the  heavy 
artillery  expected  from  France,  which  he  considered  in  fact  in 
dispensable,  having  learned  that  the  Chickasas,  with  the  aid  of 
some  English  traders,  had  rendered  their  towns  almost  impreg 
nable  to  troops  unprovided  with  battering  cannon.  His  hopes 
from  that  quarter  however  proved  vain;  and  being  unable  longer 
to  delay  the  commencement  of  his  operations,  he  proceeded  to 
Fort  Tombecbe,  from  which  he  began  his  expedition  on  the  4th 
of  May.  His  forces  consisted  of  five  hundred  and  seventy 
French  and  Swiss*  and  fifty  negroes,  with  six  hundred  Choctas, 
(not  Ralf  of  the  number  promised)  under  their  great  chiefs  the  Ali- 
bamon  Mingo  and  the  Red  Shoe.  They  ascended  the  Tombecbe 
partly  in  boats  and  partly  on  foot,  several  hundred  miles,,  to  its 

*  These  numbers  are  taken  from  Bienville's  despatch  to  the  French  Govern 
ment  of  the  12th  of  June  ;  the  other  accounts  represent  the  force  as  much  greater. 


1736.]         THE    FRENCH    REACH    THE    CHICKASA    TOWN.  427 

junction  with  one  of  its  branches  from  the  west  called  Oketibeha,* 
where  the  town  of  Columbus  in  the  State  of  Mississippi  now 
stands,  distant  about  forty  miles  from  the  point  of  attack.  At 
this  place  it  had  been  intended  to  leave  the  river;  but  the  de 
termination  was  changed,  and  they  proceeded  higher  up  to  the 
mouth  of  another  small  stream,  nearer  to  the  Chickasa  towns,  at 
which  a  temporary  fort  was  constructed  for  the  protection  of  the 
boats  and  materials  not  immediately  required. 

From  this  place,  now  known  as  Cotton-Gin-port,  the  French 
and  their  allies  set  out  on  the  24th  of  May,  leaving  at  the  fort  a 
garrison  of  twenty  men  under  M.  de  Vandereck.  On  that  day, 
they  went  but  two  leagues,  and  passed  the  night  disagreeably, 
without  shelter  from  a  violent  storm,  which  lasted  until  morning; 
the  march  was  then  resumed  with  caution,  and  after  some  diffi 
culties  in  passing  marshes  and  swoln  streams,  they  again  encamp 
ed  within  two  leagues,  of  the  Long  House,  which  they  reached 
early  on  the  26th.  This  town  against  which  the  attack  of  the 
French  was  about  to  be  directed,  consisted  of  some  large  cabins, 
or  groups  of  small  .cabins  connected  together,  surrounding  a  slight 
eminence  crowned  with  a  rude  fort  of  logs  and  earth,  in  the 
centre  of  a  prairie.  The  roofs  of  the  cabins  and  of  the  fort,  were 
made  of  poles,  covered  with  earth;  and  each  group  was  enclosed 
by  a  palisatle  of  logs,  behind  which  holes  were  dug  in  the 
ground,  to  secure  the  defenders  against  musketry,  and  even  in  a 
measure  against  light  artillery.  The  Indians  were  well  provided 
with  guns  and  ammunition,  and  were  aided  by  the  advice  of 
several  English  traders,  who  were  among  them  ;  so  that  their 
position  was,  upon  the  whole  stronger,  than  many  which  have 
been  held  out  by  a  few  determined  men,  against  forces  infinitely 
superior,  and  provided  with  all  the  means  and  materials  for  siege 
or  assault.  A  British  flag  was  flying  on  the  fort,  according  to 
one  of  the  accounts;  while  another  states  that  it  "was  raised  over 
a  hut  occupied  by  some  English. 

Bienville  on  examining  the  place,  felt  little  inclination  to  attack 
it,  as  he  had  no  cannon,  and  he  proposed  to  move  on  to  another  vil 
lage,  which  was  said  to  be  occupied  by  Natches :  but  the  Choctas, 

* Oketibeha  means,  The  water  where  we  fought  them;  in  commemoration  as 
it  is  said  of  a  great  battle  at  that  place  in  which  the  Cherokees  were  beaten  by 
the  Choctas. 


428      THE  FRENCH  REPULSED  BY  THE  CHICKASAS.   [1736. 

in  the  exuberance  of  their  zeal  and  courage,  insisted  on  beginning 
the  war  at  this  point ;  and  as  the  same  opinion  was  entertained  by 
the  French  officers,  the  Governor  yielded  to  their  wishes.  A  com 
pany  of  grenadiers,  with  sixty  Swiss  and  two  hundred  volunteers, 
were  accordingly  ordered  to  advance,  under  the  command  of  M. 
de  Noyan,  Bienville's  nephew,  against  one  of  the  groups  of 
cabins,  preceded  by  some  negroes  carrying  mantelets  or  shields  of 
planks,  for  the  protection  of  the  men  against  musket  shots. 
Some  of  these  blacks  were  soon  wounded,  upon  which  the  others 
threw  down  the  mantelets  and  fled  :  the  grenadiers,  however, 
marched  on,  and  succeeded  in  setting  one  of  the  cabins  on  fire 
with  their  hand-grenades,  after  the  Indians  who  defended  it  had 
escaped  to  the  fort ;  but  the  French  were  exposed  to  a  fire  from 
the  other  cabins,  so  constant  and  well  directed,  that  their  com 
mander,  and  a  large  number  of  their  officers  and  men  wrere  soon 
killed  or  wounded.  The  Choctas  were  then,  with  much  difficulty, 
brought  to  the  assault,  from  which  they,  like  the  negroes,  fled 
upon  the  fall  of  some  of  their  number;  and  Bienville,  consider 
ing  it  needless  to  continue  the  attack,  sent  M.  de  Beauchamp, 
with  eighty  men,  to  recall  the  troops,  and  cover  their  retreat. 
This  was  done  in  good  order,  as  the  Chickasas  did  not  venture 
to  leave  their  fort ;  and  the  French  encamped  for  the  Jiight,  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  village.  M.  de  Contrecoeur,  the  captain 
of  the  grenadiers,  M.  de  Lusser,  who  commanded  the  Swiss,  M. 
de  Juzan,  the  adjutant,  and  seven  other  officers,  were  left  dead 
on  the  field,  with  thirty-two  of  the  men,  whose  bodies  were  seen 
on  the  next  day  hanging  in  quarters,  on  the  Chickasa  fort ;  and 
more  than  sixty,  including  M.  de  Noyan,  were  brought  away 
severely  wounded.  Of  the  number  of  Chickasas  engaged  in  the 
defence,  no  account  could  be  obtained  ;  none  of  the  estimates 
made  by  the  French,  carried  it  as  high  as  a  hundred  men,  and 
the  English  traders  make  it  still  less. 

The  night  was  passed  by  the  French  undisturbed.  On  the 
following  morning,  a  deputation  appeared  from  another  Chickasa* 
village,  to  propose  peace,  but  Bienville  was  so  much  irritated 
by  the  events  of  the  preceding  day,  that  he  ordered  his  men  to 
fire  on  them,  and  four  of  the  number  were  thus  killed.  An 
attempt  was  then  made  to  renew  the  attack,  but  it  was  soon 
abandoned;  and  the  Choctas,  under  the  influence  of  the  Red 


1736.]  SHAMEFUL    RETREAT    OF    BIENVILLE.  429 

Shoe,  having  evinced  a  disposition  to  separate  themselves  from 
their  allies,  and  return  directly  home,  it  was  determined  that  the 
enterprise  should  be  abandoned.  Litters  and  hurdles  were  ac 
cordingly  prepared  for  the  wounded,  and  the  army  retreating 
slowly,  reached  the  place  of  embarkation  on  the  Tombecbe,  in 
two  days.  Had  they  delayed  their  retreat  much  longer,  it  would 
probably  have  been  very  disastrous  ;  for  the  river  was  rapidly 
falling,  and  they  might  have  been  obliged  to  march  several  hun 
dred  miles  with  their  wounded,  through  a  difficult  country,  in 
which  the  Chickasas  would  not  have  failed  to  harrass  them.  They 
however  descended  the  river  safely  to  Fort  Tombecbe,  which 
they  reached  on  the  2nd  of  June  ;  and  thence  Bienville  hastened 
to  Mobile,  where  he  had  to  communicate  the  ill  success  of  the  ex 
pedition,  to  the  commandant  D'Artaguette,  his  rival  and  enemy.* 
While  engaged  in  this  expedition,  Bienville  had,  of  course, 

*  Bienville  in  his  despatches  to  the  government,  endeavored  to  diminish  the 
amount  of  his  own  responsibility,  by  dwelling  on  the  difficulties  which  he  had 
to  encounter,  not  only  from  the  Chickasas  and  their  English  allies,  but  also  from 
the  want  of  energy,  and  punctuality  of  his  own  officers,  and  the  falsehood  of 
his  Indian  auxiliaries,  against  whom  he  was  obliged  to  be  ever  on  his  guard ; 
alluding  at  the  same  time,  to  the  neglect  of  his  urgent  entreaties  for  heavy  ar 
tillery,  and  to  the  miserable  character  of  the  soldiers  sent  out  to  him,  whose 
cowardice  he  could  not  have  anticipated.  "True  it  is,"  he  writes,  "that  no 
one  could  have  expected  to  make  soldiers,  of  the  miserable  herd  of  scoundrels, 
sent  here  as  recruits ;  and  it  is  most  painful  to  be  obliged  to  jeopard  the  honor 
of  the  nation,  with  such  troops,  and  to  expose  the  officers  to  the  alternative  of 
death  or  disgrace.  The  recruits,  lately  arrived  in  the  Gironde,  are  the  worst 
of  all :  there  are  among  them  but  one  or  two  of  more  than  five  feet  high  ;  the 
rest  are  under  four  feet  ten  inches  ;  and  as  to  their  morals,  of  the  whole  number 
of  fifty-two,  more  than  one  half  have  been  already  publicly  whipped  for  theft. 
They  are,  in  fine,  only  so  many  useless  mouths,  who  will  always  be  a  burthen, 
and  never  a  benefit  to  the  colony." 

M.  Diron  d'Artaguette  carefully  excludes  all  these  palliatives  from  his 
communication  to  the  ministry,  which  is  thus  bitterly  laconic — "  Our  army, 
composed  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred  men,  and  commanded  by  M.  de  Bien 
ville  in  person,  has  failed,  as  you  will  learn  by  his  own  reports,  in  the  attack  on 
the  first  village  which  they  found  on  their  way.  This  village  was  defended  by 
thirty  or  forty  men,  entrenched  in  a  fort,  and  in  several  surrounding  cabins, 
equally  strong,  from  which  they  discharged  their  shot,  so  effectively,  as  to  put 
more  than  a  hundred  of  ours  hors  dc  combat,  and  occasioned  so  much  disorder 
among  our  men,  that  M.  de  Bienville  was  forced  to  retreat.  We  cannot  say 
that  we  have  killed  a  single  Chickasa  ;  and  it  is  reported,  that  without  the  as 
sistance  of  the  Choctas,  we  should  not  have  had  four  men  left  to  bring  us  the 
news  of  the  defeat." — Gayarre's  Histoire  de  La  Louisiane. 


430  DESTRUCTION  OF  D'ARTAGUETTE  AND  HIS   MEN.      [1736. 

been  anxiously  expecting  to  see  or  hear  from  young  D'Arta- 
guette,  of  whose  arrival  with  his  men  at  the  Chickasa  Bluffs, 
he  had  been  informed  before  leaving  Mobile.  No  news  of  that 
body  was  however  obtained  until  the  return  of  the  Governor  to 
Mobile,  when  he  received  a  letter  from  D'Artaguette,  written  in 
the  middle  of  April,  stating  that  he  should  immediately  begin 
his  march  to  the  interior,  so  as  to  meet  the  troops  from  the  south 
at  the  appointed  time  and  place  ;  and  information  of  his  de 
parture  for  that  purpose,  was  soon  after  brought  to  New  Orleans. 
The  next  accounts  of  that  body  were  most  deplorable.  They  ar 
rived  in  the  end  of  April,  before  a  Chickasa  village,  which  they 
immediately  attacked;  but  scarcely  had  they  begun  the  assault,  ere 
they  found  themselves  beset  by  a  large  body  of  the  savages,  who 
had  been  concealed  in  a  neighboring  wood.  The  Indian  auxil 
iaries  of  the  French,  thereupon  threw  down  their  arms  and  fled  ; 
and  the  Illinois  militia  having  been  likewise  seized  with  a  panic, 
which  rendered  them  incapable  of  sustaining  the  action,  the 
route  became  general.  About  eighty  of  the  French  escaped 
under  the  direction  of  a  young  ensign,  named  Voisin,  and 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Margot,  on  their  way  to  which,  they 
were  met  by  M.  de  Montcherval  and  his  men,  from  the  Arkansas, 
proceeding  to  join  D'Artaguette.  Of  the  others,  nothing  was 
heard  during  several  months. 

At  length  an  Indian  woman,  and  soon  after,  a  sergeant  who  had 
been  left  among  the  Chickasas,  brought  to  New  Orleans,  ac 
counts  of  the  fate  of  the  remainder  of  their  party.  D'Artaguette 
and  Vincennes,  with  the  few  who  supported  them,  fought  gal 
lantly  for  some  time ;  they  were  however,  in  the  end,  overpowered, 
and  made  prisoners  by  the  Indians,  who  treated  them  kindly  at 
first,  with  the  object,  no  doubt,  of  procuring  peace  through  their 
means.  But  when  Bienville  and  his  army  had  retreated,  after 
the  failure  of  their  attack  on  the  Long  House,  the  savages,  being 
no  longer  restrained  by  fear  of  the  future,  gave  a  loose  to  their 
feelings  of  hatred  against  the  invaders.  The  sergeant,  who 
brought  the  news,  was  spared  by  his  master,  in  return  for  some 
service  rendered  ;  and  two  men  were  in  like  manner  preserved, 
to  be  exchanged  for  a  Chickasa  chief,  made  prisoner  by  Bienville. 
The  others,  nineteen  in  number,  including  D'Artaguette,  Vincen 
nes  and  the  Jesuit  Father  Senat,  who  had  accompanied  the 


1737.]      THE  FRENCH  DISCOURAGED  BY  THEIR  DEFEATS.          43 

party  as  chaplain,  were  all  burnt  alive,  at  a  solemn  feast  by  the 
Chickasas.* 

The  unfortunate  results  of  these  expeditions  necessarily  pro 
duced  an  effect  upon  the  Indians  most  unfavorable  to  the  French, 
especially  on  the  Choctas  who  openly  proclaimed  their  contempt 
for  that  nation;  and  Bienville  resolved  to  engage  in  no  enterprise 

*  The  following  extracts  from  Adair's  History  of  the  Indian  Nations,  no  doubt 
relate  to  these  expeditions.  They  are  characteristic  as  showing  the  fierce  feelings 
which  prevailed  among  the  English  traders,  towards  the  French  at  that  period. 

"  A  body  of  the  lower  French,  and  about  fourteen  hundred  Choctas,  attacked 
the  Long  House,  when  only  sixty  warriors  were  at  home  :  yet  they  fought  so 
desperately,  as  to  secure  themselves,  their  women  and  children,  till  some  of  the 
hunters,  who  had  been  immediately  sent  for,  came  home  to  their  assistance ; 
when,  though  exceedingly,  inferior  in  numbers,  they  drove  the  French  off  with 
great  loss." 

"  Another  time,  the  Lower  and  Upper  Louisiana  French,  and  a  great  body  of 
red  auxiliaries  surprised  late  at  night  all  their  [Chickasa]  present  towns  except 
Amalahta,  that  had  about  forty  warriors,  and  stood  at  some  distance  from  the 
others.  A  considerable  number  of  the  enemy  were  posted  at  every  door,  to 
prevent  their  escape ;  and  what  few  ran  out  were  killed  on  the  spot.  The 
French  seemed  quite  sure  of  their  prey,  having  so  well  enclosed  it.  But  at  the 
dawn  of  day,  when  they  were  capering  and  using  those  flourishes  that  are  pecu 
liar  to  that  volatile  nation,  the  people  of  the  other  town  drew  around  them,  stark 
naked,  and  all  painted  over,  red  and  black;  thus  they  attacked  them,  killed 
numbers  on  the  spot,  released  their  brethren,  who  joined  them  like  enraged 
lions,  increasing  as  they  swept  along,  and  in  turn  encircled  their  enemies. 
Their  release  increased  their  joy  and  fury ;  and  they  rent  the  sky  with  their 
sounds.  Their  flashy  enemies  now  changed  their  boasting  tune,  into  "  Oh  Mot- 
bleu  /"  and  gave  up  all  for  lost.  Their  red  allies  out-heeled  them,  and  left  them 
to  receive  their  just  fate.  They  were  all  cut  off  but  two,  an  officer  and  a  negro, 
who  faithfully  held  his  horse  till  he  mounted,  and  then  ran  alongside  of  him.  A 
couple  of  swift  runners  were  sent  after  them,  who  soon  came  up  with  them,  and 
told  them  to  nveauu  go  home  and  inform  their  people,  that  'as  the  Chickasa 
hogs  had  now  a  plenty  of  ugly  French  carcasses  to  feed  on  till  next  year,  they 
hoped  then  to  have  another  visit  from  them  and  their  red  friends;  and  that  as 
messengers,  they  wished  them  safe  home.'  They  accordingly  returned  with 
heavy  hearts  to  the  Chickasa  landing  place  north-west  on  the  Mississippi,  at  the 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  where  they  took  boat,  and  deliver 
ed  their  unexpected  message.  Grief  and  trembling  spread  through  the  country; 
and  the  inhabitants  could  not  secure  themselves  from  the  fury  of  these  warlike 
and  enraged  Chickasas.  Every  one  of  their  prisoners  was  put  to  the  fiery  tor 
ture,  without  any  possibility  of  redemption,  their  hearts  were  so  exceedingly 
embittered  against  them." 

The  particulars  of  this  unsuccessful  campaign  of  the  French,  were  related  to 
the  author  of  this  history,  by  an  old  Chickasa  chief,  at  Washington,  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1848,  with  no  material  variation  from  the  account  here  presented  as  de 
rived  entirely  from  French  authorities. 


432       THE    FRENCH    COLONY    ON    THE    VERGE    OF    RUIN.       [1736, 

of  the  same  kind  in  future  without  troops  and  artillery,  sufficient 
to  enable  him  to  dispense  with  Indian  auxiliaries.  The  Gov 
ernment,  however,  disappointed  by  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
conducted  his  campaign,  refused  all  his  applications  to  that  effect; 
and  the  Indians,  encouraged  by  his  inaction,  became  daily  more 
insolent  and  annoying.  The  Chickasas  soon  held  entire  posses 
sion  of  the  part  of  the  Mississippi,  between  the  Arkansas  an^l  the 
Ohio ;  and  a  number  of  savages  from  the  environs  of  the  latter 
river,  under  the  direction  of  English  traders  from  Virginia,  estab 
lished  themselves  near  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  and  cut  off  all 
communications  by  that  route,  between  the  lakes  and  the  Mis 
sissippi.  Under  these  circumstances  the  French  colony  seemed 
rapidly  verging  to  ruin.  All  industry  was  paralyzed,  famine  pre 
vailed  every  where,  and  the  people  as  well  as  the  soldiers,  desert 
ed  whenever  opportunities  were  offered,  to  Carolina  and  even  to 
the  Spanish  settlements  in  Florida.  In  the  Illinois,  there  was  no 
want  of  the  means  of  subsistence;  but  no  market  being  offered 
for  the  productions  of  the  country,  in  consequence  of  the  inter 
ruption  of  communications  with  lower  Louisiana,  the  people 
ceased  to  cultivate  the  earth,  any  farther  than  was  necessary  for 
the  supply  of  their  own  immediate  wants.  The  little  settlement  of 
Natchitoches  on  the  Red  river,  under  the  direction  of  its  founder 
the  gallant  old  Chevalier  de  St.  Denis,  seems  to  have  presented 
the  only  exception  to  the  general  misery  of  the  lower  country:  its 
tobacco  began  to  be  known  and  appreciated  in  Europe,  from 
which  its  people  received  a  few  foreign  articles  in  return ;  and 
the  irregular  trade  carried  on  with  Texas,  brought  thither  the 
greater  part  of  the  specie,  which  came  into  Louisiana. 

The  English  colony  in  Georgia  meanwhile  continued  to  ad 
vance,  although  discontent  soon  appeared  among  the  settlers,  in 
consequence  of  the  restrictive  regulations  of  the  trustees,  especi 
ally  with  regard  to  the  exclusion  of  slavery  and  spirituous  liquors. 
The  climate  was  found  to  be  very  unfavorable  to  the  health  of 
Europeans  laboring  in  the  fields,  and  they  considered  spirituous 
liquors  not  only  necessary  for  their  own  comfort,  but  indispensa 
ble  for  their  trade  with  the  Indians :  so  that  they  soon  began  to 
regard  with  envy,  their  fellow  subjects  north  of  the  Savannah, 
who  were  prospering  by  the  employment  of  negroes  on  their  plan 
tations,  and  were  untrammelled  by  annoying  prohibitions.  Such 


1736.]  INCREASE    OF    THE    COLONY    OF    GEORGIA.  433 

was  the  general  feeling  among  the  colonists  on  the  return  of 
Oglethorpe  from  England,  whither  he  had  gone  in  1734,  ,to  ob 
tain  funds  and  settlers;  and  as  he  was  supposed,  with  justice,  to 
be  the  principal  cause  and  defender  of  the  restrictive  system,  a 
party  was  soon  organized  in  resistance  to  his  authority,  which  was 
favored  and  encouraged  in  every  way  by  the  people  of  Carolina. 

Oglethorpe  on  this  occasion  brought  with  him  from  Europe  a 
number  of  Germans,  and  of  Scotchmen  from  the  Highlands,  and 
distributed  them  at  various  points,  chiefly  on  the  coasts  and  is 
lands,  as  far  south  as  the  river  of  St.  John,  at  the  entrance  of 
which-  he  erected  a  fort  on  St.  George's  island.  Forts  were  in 
like  manner  erected  at  Darien,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Alatamaha, 
where  a  settlement  of  Scotchmen  was  formed,  and  on  the  islands 
of  St.  Simon,  Jekyll,  Cumberland  and  Amelia,  the  two  last  of 
which  were  named  after  members  of  the  royal  family  of  England; 
and  a  town  called  Frederica,  in  honor  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
was  begun  on  the  channel  separating  St.  Simon's  island  from 
the  mainland,  which  was  intended  to  be  the  principal  seat  of 
commerce  of  the  country.  Oglethorpe  had  convinced  himself 
that  the  channels  separating  these  islands  from  the  Continent, 
were  in  fact  all  continuations  of  the  Alatamaha,  and  even  that  the 
St.  John  was  only  a  branch  of  that  river. 

Upon  the  establishment  of  these  posts,  the  Spaniards  became 
seriously  alarmed,  and  orders  were  given  to  the  Governor  of  Flo 
rida,  to  expel  the  intruders  from  the  territories  of  his  Catholic 
Majesty.  Oglethorpe  on  learning  that  preparations  for  this  pur 
pose  were  in  progress,  sent  two  gentlemen  to  St.  Augustine,  to 
make  inquiries  on-  the  subject,  who  were  at  first  detained  and 
threatened  with  imprisonment  at  that  place;  but  the  Governor, 
Don  Francisco  de  Moral  Sanchez,  finally  agreed  to  liberate  them, 
and  to  authorise  commissioners  to  treat  with  Oglethorpe  on  the 
points  of  difference.  The  meeting  took  place  at  Frederica,  where 
Don  Antonio  de  Arredondo,  appeared  as  the  representative  of  the 
Governor  of  Florida  ;  and  after  some  discussions  as  to  the  extent 
of  the  territories  of  the  respective  parties,  an  agreement  was  con 
cluded  in  September,  1736,  to  the  effect,  that  the  English  fort  at 
St.  George's  Island  should  be  abandoned,  and  that  neither  party 
should  act  in  a  hostile  manner  towards  the  other,  or  excite  the 
Indians  to  do  so,  until  the  determination  of  their  governments  on 
55 


434  DISPUTE    BETWEEN    ENGLAND    AND    SPAIN.  [1738. 

the  subject  of  boundaries  should  have  been  learnell.  The  agree 
ment,  was  however,  rescinded  by  the  Captain  General  of  Cuba, 
Don  Francisco  de  Guemes  Horcasitas,  who  sent  a  peremptory 
summons  to  Oglethorpe,  for  the  evacuation  of  Georgia.  This  de 
mand  was  submitted  by  the  Governor  in  person  to  the  British 
government ;  and  Walpole,  notwithstanding  his  anxiety  to  preserve 
peace,  found  himself  obliged  to  make  a  peremptory  denial  of  the 
claim  of  Spain  to  that  territory,  and  to  insist  on  reparation  of  the 
injuries  inflicted  on  his  countrymen  in  the  West  Indies  by  the 
cruisers  of  that  nation,  and  by  the  denial  of  the  right  of  the  Eng 
lish  to  cut  wood  at  Honduras,  and  to  trade  with  the  Indians  of 
the  Mosquito  coast. 

A  small  force  was  at  the  same  time  placed  at  the  disposition 
of  Oglethorpe,  who  returned  with  it  to  Georgia  in  September, 
1738;  but  he  there  found  that  the  Spaniards  had  been  tampering 
with  the  Indians  of  his  province,  that  the  government  of  South 
Carolina  had  been  interfering  in  its  affairs,  and  that  extreme  dis 
content  prevailed  in  the  colony  itself.  He,  however,  by  great 
exertions,  counteracted  these  difficulties;  he  reasoned  with  the 
Carolinians,  and  induced  them  to  join  with  him  in  preparations 
for  resistance  ;  he  visited  the  Creek  towns  on  the  Chattahoochee, 
where  he  made  new  treaties  with  their  chiefs  ;  and  he  strengthen 
ed  the  forts,  and  distributed  his  soldiers,  on  all  the  islands  near 
the  coast,  resuming  the  possession  of  St.  George's  Island,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  John,  within  forty  miles  of  St.  Augustine:  by 
which  means  he  succeeded  in  placing  the  country  in  a  state  of 
defence,  against  the  attack  expected  from  the  Spaniards. 

This  threatening  state  of  things  between  Great  Britain  and 
Spain,  may  have  had  some  effect  in  inducing  the  French  govern 
ment  to  listen  to  the  representations  of  the  Governor  of  Louisiana, 
with  regard  to  the  perilous  position  in  which  that  province  was 
placed  by  the  enmity  of  the  Indians.  Bienville  was  at  length  in 
formed,  that  a  large  number  of  troops  with  abundant  supplies  of 
arms  an.d  munitions  of  war,  would  be  sent  to  Louisiana;  and  in 
May,  1738,  seven  hundred  men  with  artillery  and  materials  of  all 
kinds,  arrived  at  New  Orleans.  With  them,  however,  to  Bien- 
ville's  mortification  came  M.  de  Noailles  d'Aime,  a  lieutenant  in 
the  navy,  who  was  to  command  all  the  forces  of  the  colony  in  any 
expedition  against  the  Indians,  and  to  be  consulted  on  all  mat- 


1739.]        NEW    EXPEDITION    AGAINST    THE    CHICKASAS.  435 

ters  relating  to  it, — uas  he  possesses" — wrote  the  minister — "the 
talents  and  experience  required  in  a  commander."  The  Governor 
was  indeed  to  retain  the  general  direction,  but  nothing  more  im 
mediate  ;  and  if  the  arms  of  France  should  be  crowned  with  suc 
cess,  to  M.  de  Noailles  d'Aime,  not  to  M.  de  Bienville,  would 
redound  all  the  honor. 

It  was  however  too  late  for  Bienville  to  oppose  a  new  expedi 
tion  against  the  Chickasas  ;  and  preparations  for  that  purpose 
were  accordingly  commenced  early  in  1739.  On  this  occasion  it 
was  determined,  that  the  forces  should  be  all  united  in  one  army, 
which  was  to  be  assembled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Margot;  and  a 
fort  was  built  there,  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  city  of  Mem 
phis,  which  was  called  Fort  Assumption,  in  honor  of  the  day -of 
its  completion,  the  15th  of  August,  the  anniversary  of  the  As 
sumption  of  the  Virgin.  At  this  place  were  collected  a  vast 
amount  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  military  equipments  of  all 
kinds,  including  heavy  artillery,  and  mortars,  with  their  balls  and 
bombs;  and  no  less  than  twelve  hundred  French  troops,  and  two 
thousand  Indians  were  assembled  there  in  the  autumn  of  1739, 
drawn  from  every  part  of  Louisiana,  and  even  from  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.  The  Canadians  were  led  by  M.  de  Celeron,  with 
Messrs,  de  Longueil,  Bienville's  nephew,  and  de  St.  Laurent,  as 
lieutenants  ;  they  had  descended  the  Allegany*  and  Ohio  from  the 
eastern  end  of  Lake  Erie,  and  were  probably  the  first  large  party 
of  white  men  who  navigated  those  rivers,  in  their  whole  length. 
The  contingent  from  the  Illinois,  was  under  M.  de  la  Buissoniere, 

*  Allegany,  derived  as  already  said,  from  Alighin-sipou,  the  name  of  the  Ohio 
among  the  Indians  of  the  western  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  was  first 
applied  by  the  English,  about  the  year  1745,  to  the  north-eastern  branch  of  that  , 
river,  now  called  the  Allegany,  and  afterwards  to  the  northern  portion  of  the 
great  chain  of  mountains,  separating  the  streams  which  flow  directly  to  the  At 
lantic,  from  those  falling  into  the  Mississippi.  The  French  however  considered 
the  Allegany  as  the  main  stream  of  the  Ohio;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
same,  to  which  that  name  was  originally  assigned  by  the  Iroquois. 

The  party  who  thus  came  from  Canada  by  these  rivers,  either  then  or  on  their 
return  by  the  same  route,  found  the  first  bones  of  the  mastodon,  or  American 
mammoth,  which  were  carried  to  Europe.  They  were  obtained  from  a  marsh, 
no  doubt  the  same  now  known  as  the  Big-bone-lick,  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the 
Ohio,  about  one  hundred  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Louisville  ;  and  were 
deposited  by  the  Baron  de  Longueil,  in  the  Museum  of  the  Garden  of  Natural 
History  at  Paris,  where  they  still  remain.  See  the  "  Memoires  de  1'Academie 
des  Sciences1'  for  1762. 


436      IMPOTENT  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    [1740. 

who  had  succeeded  the  unfortunate  D'Artaguette,  in  the  command 
of  that  part  of  Louisiana  ;  those  from  the  lower  country  were  un 
der  the  immediate  direction  of  Noyan,  another  nephew  of  Bien 
ville,  and  were  accompanied  by  engineers,  draughtsmen,  artiller 
ists,  and  persons  skilled  in  various  other  branches  of  military 
science,  whose  services  might  be  required  in  the  expedition.  No 
such  force  had  ever  been  assembled  in  the  Mississippi  regions  ; 
and  as  a  large  portion  of  the  Choctas,  under  the  Alibamon  Min- 
go,  were  at  the  same  time  to  attack  the  Chickasas,  from  the  side 
of  the  Tombecbe,  there  was  certainly  every  reason  to  anticipate 
a  result  favorable  to  the  French. 

Bienville  did  not  reach  Fort  Assumption  until  the  12th  of  No 
vember,  and  the  engineers  who  had  been  employed  ever  since  the 
beginning  of  the  summer  in  reconnoitering,  then  reported  that  no 
road  practicable  for  artillery  had  been  discovered,  from  that  place 
to  the  Chickasa  towns.  It  was  thereupon  determined  that  the  ex 
pedition  should  be  deferred  until  the  ensuing  spring,  and  the 
whole  army  went  into  winter  quarters  at  the  place  where  they  re 
mained  until  March,  1740.  A  road  sufficient  for  the  passage  of 
the  cannon,  had  in  the  meantime  been  made,  through  the  marshes 
south-east  of  the  fort;  but  just  then  the  provisions  were  pronoun 
ced  insufficient.  A  large  number  of  the  French  had  moreover  died 
during  the  winter,  and  of  the  survivors,  only  a  small  proportion 
were  considered  fit  for  active  service  :  and  a  council  of  war  hav 
ing  been  assembled,  it  was  determined — that,  under  such  circum 
stances,  the  expedition  could  not  be  prosecuted  without  jeopard 
ing  the  honor  of  His  Majesty's  arms. 

De  Celeron,  and  the  other  Canadian  officers,  however,  pro 
tested  against  this  decision,  and  declared  their  resolution  to 
march  against  the  enemy,  with  their  own  followers  ;  whereupon 
it  was  agreed,  that  they  should  proceed  on  a  mission  to  the 
Chickasas,  and  that  the  other  forces  should,  if  possible,  be  kept 
together,  until  their  return.  The  Canadians  accordingly  marched 
to  the  Chickasa  towns,  where  De  Celeron  managed  his  affairs 
so  well,  as  to  induce  the  Indians  to  send  deputies  to  the  French 
camp,  to  sue  for  peace :  they  were  graciously  received  by 
Bienville,  who  was  just  on  the  point  of  returning  to  New  Orleans ; 
and  a  treaty  was  concluded,  in  which  the  Chickasas  agreed  to 
cast  off  the  Natches,  and  to  make  no  farther  attacks  on  the 


1741.] 

French.  Fort  Assumption,  and  another  which  had  been  erected 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
St.  Francois,  were  then  destroyed,  and  the  army  was  entirely 
disbanded. 

Such  a  result,  after  the  humiliations  experienced  in  the  pre 
ceding  campaigns  against  the  Chickasas,  was  regarded  by  the 
French  as  a  triumph  ;  and  Bienville  did  not  hesitate  to  represent 
it  nearly  in  that  light,  in  his  despatches  to  the  Government.*  It 
however  produced  no  effects  whatsoever,  as  the  Chickasas  and 
the  Natches  immediately  renewed  their  attacks  on  the  French,  who 
were  thus  forced  to  return  to  their  former  course,  of  bribing  the 
Choctas,  to  make  war  on  their  enemies.  In  order  to  secure  the 
fidelity  of  the  latter  people,  Bienville  arranged  a  mode  of  conduct 
ing  the  trade  with  them,  which  proved  for  some  time  very  effec 
tive.  He  established  an  understanding  with  some  English  mer 
chants  in  New  York  and  Charleston,  who  engaged  to  supply  him 
with  goods  in  return  for  deer  skins,  of  which  he  had  no  other 
means  of  disposing ;  and  as  the  rivers  gave  the  French  greater 
facilities  of  transportation,  than  wer,e  enjoyed  by  the  English,  the 
traders  of  the  two  nations  were  brought  more  nearly  on  an  equality 
in  the  Indian  countries. 

These  Indian  wars  wTere  by  no  means  honorable  to  the  French 
either  as  soldiers  or  as  men;  exhibiting,  as  they  did,  a  series 
of  acts  of  treachery  and  misconduct,  unredeemed  by  any  mani 
festations  of  courage,  except  on  the  part  of  a  few  individuals. 
Glory  is  seldom  to  be  acquired  in  wars  with  savages,  however 
successful  may  be  the  result ;  and  they  frequently  fail,  from 
circumstances,  inseparably  attending  them,  unfavorable  to  civili 
zed  troops.  But  the  annals  of  no  other  portion  of  America, 
present  instances  of  such  general  poltroonery,  in  such  large  num 
bers  of  persons  of  European  race,  as  we  find  displayed  by  the 
French  in  their  contests  with  the  Natches,  and  Chickasas, 

*  Bienville,  in  his  despatch  of  May  6,  1740,  says  : — "If  our  success  in  this 
affair  has  not  been  such,  as  we  might  have  anticipated,  the  glory  of  the  King's 
arms  has  not  suffered  in  it.  All  the  nations  have  been  struck,  with  our  prepara 
tions  for  the  campaign,  and  have  felt  the  superiority  of  our  forces.  They  have 
all  seen  the  measures  taken  by  the  enemy  through  fear,  in  order  to  obtain  peace. 
I  may  even  venture  to  assert,  that  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  colony,  our  affairs 
are  in  a  better  state  than  they  would  have  been  if  we  had  marched  against  the 
enenay."  This  last  assertion,  nt  least,  seems  to  have  been  fully  authorised  by 
the  results  of  the  preceding  campaigns. 


438          DAUFHINE    ISLAND    DIVIDED    BY    A    HURRICANE.       [1741. 

agreeably  to  the  express  statements,  officially  made  by  their  own 
high  officers,  to  the  government ;  and  the  only  excuse  which 
seems  admissable  in  behalf  of  the  men  is,  that  those  officers 
were,  for  the  most  part,  utterly  without  principle,  and  were  al 
ways  actuated  by  feelings  of  jealousy  towards  each  other.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  the  inactivity  of  the  French,  during  the 
seven  months  spent  by  them  at  Fort  Assumption,  within  a  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  enemy — knowing  as  we  now  do,  that 
no  serious  obstacles  -really  existed,  to  their  passage,  with  their 
artillery  through  the  country- — unless  upon  the  supposition,  that 
Bienville  was  determined  to  prevent  his  coadjutor,  M.  de  Noailles, 
from  gathering  laurels,  to  which  the  orders  of  their  government, 
prevented  him  from  aspiring. 

In  addition  to  its  other  calamities,  Louisiana  was,  in  the  au 
tumn  of  the  following  year,  1741,  visited  by  two  dreadful  hurri 
canes,  far  exceeding,  in  violence,  any  previously  witnessed  by 
the  French  in  that  country.  In  the  first  of  these  storms,  on  the 
llth  of  September,  the  middle  of  Dauphine  island  was  carried 
away  by  the  waves,  leaving  the  other  portions  separated  by 
channel  of  more  than  a  league  in  width  :  of  these  two  portions 
the  eastern  still  retains  the  name  of  Dauphine,  the  other  being 
now  called  Massacre  island.  The  capital  of  the  colony  fortunately 
escaped,  and  from  its  store-houses,  provisions  wrere  sent  to  the 
other  parts  of  the  lower  country,  in  which  the  people  must,  with 
out  such  aid,  have  perished  from  starvation. 

In  the  meantime  war  was  in  progress  between  Great  Britain 
and  Spain,  and  the  whole  European  world  was  on  the  eve  of  a 
conflagration.  The  demands  for  reparation  of  injuries,  addressed 
by  the  British  Government  to  that  of  Spain,  produced  a  nego 
tiation,  which  ended  in  a  convention  signed  at  the  Pardo,  near 
Madrid,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1739.  According  to  its  terms, 
some  vessels  which  had  been  seized  by  the  Spaniards  in  the 
West  Indies,  were  to  be  restored,  payment  was  to  be  made 
by  that  nation  of  some  debts  due  to  British  subjects,  and  the 
line  of  separation,  between  the  territories  of  the  two  parties  in 
America,  was  to  be  settled  by  commissaries,  all  things  remain 
ing  in  their  actual  condition,  until  the  question  should  have 
been  decided.  This  convention  was  received  with  little  favor  by 
the  people  of  England,  and  was  approved  by  a  very  sm?ll  ma- 


I 

1740.]     OGLETHORPE  MARCHES  AGAINST   ST.   AUGUSTINE.          439 

jority  in  Parliament ;  and  when  it  afterwards  appeared,  that  the 
Spaniards  still  continued  their  acts  of  violence  towards  British 
subjects  in  the  West  Indies,  and  were  preparing  to  enforce  their 
claim  to  Georgia,  war  was  declared  against  them  in  October,  1739. 
Admiral  Vernon  was  sent  with  a  powerful  fleet  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  Anson  with  a  few  vessels  to  the  Pacific;  while  Ogle- 
thorpe  was  ordered  to  command  the  forces  against  Florida,  with 
the  title  of  Major  General. 

Oglethorpe,  immediately  on  receiving  this  commission,  re 
solved  to  anticipate  the  Spaniards,  by  an  attack  upon  St.  Au 
gustine  ;  for  which  purpose  he  made  every  exertion  to  collect 
forces  at  St.  George's  Island.  Having  received  the  promise  of 
a  large  number  of  volunteers  from  Carolina,  he  proceeded  with 
his  regular  soldiers,  and  a  number  of  Indians,  to  the  place  of 
rendezvous  in  May,  1740 ;  and  then  crossing  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  John,  he  took  the  fort  of  San  Diego  on  its  southern  side, 
and  that  of  San  Francisco  de  la  Popa,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  immediately  west  of  St.  Augustine,  by  which  he  cut  off 
the  communications  between  that  place  and  the  settlements  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Having  garrisoned  these  points,  he  returned 
to  St.  George's  Island,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  Carolina  vol 
unteers,  and  the  vessels  with  the  artillery  from  Charleston. 

After  some  days,  the  vessels  commanded  by  Captain  Warren 
arrived,  bringing  four  hundred  volunteers  under  Colonel  Vander- 
dussen,  with  a  large  number  of  Indians,  principally  Creeks,  and 
a  few  Chickasas ;  and  those,  having  been  landed  on  the  south 
side  of  the  St.  John,  began  their  march,  on  the  8th  of  June,  for 
St.  Augustine,  to  which  the  vessels  with  the  heavy  artillery,  ma 
terials  and  provisions,  were  at  the  same  time  directed. 

The  town  of  St.  Augustine  stands  on  the  mainland  of  Florida, 
opposite  the  northern  entrance  of  Matanzas  Sound,  a  narrow  and 
shallow  channel,  nearly  twenty  miles  in  length,  which  separates 
the  island  of  Anastasia*  from  the  Continent.  The  northern  en 
trance  of  this  sound  forms  the  harbor,  admitting  vessels  which 
draw  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  feet:  on  the  south  and  west, 
the  town  is  bordered  by  a  marsh,  traversed  by  a  small  stream 
called  St.  Sebastian's  creek,  which  protects  it  from  attack  on 
those  sides;  and  on  the  north,  where  alone  it  is  accessible  from 

*  See  the  map  on  page  131. 


440  THE    SPANIARDS    PREPARED    FOR    DEFENCE.  [1740. 

the  land,  stands  the  castle  of  San  Marcos,  a  strong  stone  fortress, 
then  mounting  forty  pieces  of  cannon,  including  some  of  large 
calibre.  Two  miles  farther  north,  was  a  small  out  work  called 
Fort  Musa;  other  batteries  were  erected  at  exposed  points  on  the 
mainland  and  on  Anastasia  Island,  and  a  thick  wall  of  stone  ran 
along  the  eastern  side  of  the  town  towards  the  harbor,  intended 
to  prevent  inundation  from  the  sea  during  hurricanes,  as  well  as 
for  protection  against  enemies.  The  place  was  commanded  by 
Don  Manuel  de  Monteano,  the  Governor  of  Florida,  who  pos 
sessed  courage  and  devotion  to  his  cause,  though  as  afterwards 
appeared,  he  was  destitute  of  all  other  qualities  of  a  general.* 

The  delay  of  Oglethorpe  at  St.  George's  Island  had  afforded 
time  for  the  Spaniards  to  drive  in  their  cattle  from  the  plains  north 
of  St.  Augustine,  and  to  strengthen  their  works  around  the  town; 
and  they  moreover  received  a  large  supply  of  ammunition  and 
men  from  Havanna,  by  vessels  which  could  not  have  entered  the 
harbor,  if  the  English  had  marched  thither  immediately  after  their 
arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John.  On  the  10th  of  June,  Ogle- 
thorpe  reached  Fort  Musa,  of  which  possession  was  taken  upon 
its  evacuation  by  the  garrison  agreeably  to  orders ;  and  in  that 
work  he  established  about  one  hundred  highlanders,  under  Col. 
Palmer,  who  had  commanded  the  expedition  against  St.  Augus 
tine  in  1725,  as  already  related.  The  volunteers  under  Vander- 
dussen  were  sent  to  take  a  post  on  the  creek,  north-west  of  the 
town ;  while  the  general  with  his  regulars,  crossed  the  sound  to 
Anastasia  Island,  and  began  there  to  erect  batteries  against  the 
castle.  The  vessels  blockaded  the  harbor  and  Matanzas  inlet, 
none  of  those  of  large  size  being  able  to  approach  the  town. 

Whilst  these  preparations  for  attack  were  in  progress,  the  Span 
iards,  on  the  15th  of  June,  made  a  sally  from  the  castle  on  Fort 
Musa,  which  they  took  after  an  obstinate  resistance,  killing  Col. 
Palmer  and  the  greater  part  of  his  highlanders,  and  carrying  off 
the  others  as  prisoners.  This  disaster  produced  the  most  serious 

*  A  volume  containing  copies  of  all  the  papers  relative  to  this  siege  of  St.  Au 
gustine,  and  other  matters  of  the  same  period,  is  now  preserved  among  the 
archives  of  that  place ;  and  some  letters  from  Governor  Monteano,  describing 
the  defence  of  the  town  and  the  retreat  of  the  English,  in  the  usual  bombastic 
style  of  Spanish  commanders,  may  be  found  translated  in  the  History  of  the  Semi- 
nole  war  in  1835  and  the  three  following  years,  by  Captain  W.  Sprague,  pub 
lished  at  New  York  in  1847. 


1740.]  OGLETHORPE    ABANDONS    FLORIDA.  441 

discouragement  among  the  volunteers  and  Indians,  the  latter  of 
whom  immediately  began  to  desert;  and  Oglethorpe  had  in  the 
meantime  discovered  that  his  guns  could  produce  no  effect  on  the 
castle.  He,  however,  summoned  the  Governor  to  surrender,  and 
having  received  a  contemptuous  message  in  reply,  he  endeavored 
to  assemble  his  forces  for  a  general  assault ;  but  this  being  found 
impracticable,  no  other  course  was  left  than  a  blockade,  during 
which  the  Indians  nearly  all  disappeared,  and  sickness  began 
to  disable  the  men.  Oglethorpe  himself  was  seized  with  a  fever, 
arid  all  hopes  of  starving  out  the  place  were  destroyed,  by  the  en 
trance  of  several  vessels,  through  Matanzas  inlet,  laden  with  pro 
visions  from  Havanna.  The  commander  of  the  English  squadron 
moreover  considered  it  hazardous  to  remain  longer  on  the  coast,  as 
the  hurricane  season  was  drawing  near;  and  it  was  finally  resolved 
to  abandon  the  enterprise.  Some  of  the  troops  were  accordingly 
embarked  in  the  vessels,  and  the  others  made  good  their  retreat 
by  land,  without  interruption  from  the  Spaniards,  who  were  thus 
relieved  from  the  presence  of  their  enemies,  by  the  5th  of  July. 
Oglethorpe  was  severely  blamed  for  his  conduct  in  this  expedition, 
especially  for  not  having  marched  directly  to  St.  Augustine,  after 
the  capture  of  the  forts  on  the  St.  John,  and  for  having  alienated 
the  Indians,  by  compelling  them  to  observe  the  usages  of  civili 
zed  warfare.*  With  the  forces  under  his  command,  however, 
success  was  scarcely  possible ;  and  his  greatest  fault  seems  to 
have  been,  that  he  engaged  in  the  enterprise,  without  having 
learned  or  duly  appreciated  the  difficulties. 

*  A  Chickasa,  who  had  killed  a  Spaniard,  brought  the  head  of  his  enemy  to 
Oglethorpe,  and  claimed  his  reward ;  the  bloody  prize  was  however  rejected  by 
the  humane  Governor,  with  abhorrence,  to  the  astonishment  and  discontent  of 
the  Indians,  many  of  whom  immediately  deserted  the  camp,  declaring  that  if 
they  had  carried  the  head  of  an  Englishman  to  a  French  commander,  they  would 
have  received  very  different  treatment.  This  impolitic  proceeding  of  Oglethorpe 
was  not  often  imitated  by  the  British  commanders  in  America;  who,  though  they 
may  have  turned  with  disgust  from  a  reeking  head,  did  not  refuse  to  receive  or 
pay  for  a  dried  scalp,  as  recently  as  1814. 

The  Indians  were  entirely  incapable  of  understanding  the  reasons  of  the  com 
munications,  which  pagsed  under  flags  of  truce,  between  the  English  and  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  polite  manner  in  which  the  latter  were  treated  by  the  Gen 
eral  :  and  they  in  the  end  concluded  that  the  whole  war  was  a  pretext  for  their 
destruction.  So  well  convinced  of  this  were  the  Cherokees,  that  the  English 
had  great  difficulty  in  restraining  them  from  joining  the  French  in  a  body,  during 
the  subsequent  war,  in  revenge  for  this  supposed  act  of  treachery.  See  Adair. 

56 


442         THE    SPANIARDS    PREPARE    TO    INVADE    GEORGIA.      [1742. 

In  the  meantime,  Admiral  Vernon  had  taken  Portobelo  and 
Chagres,  but  had  failed  in  his  attack  upon  Carthagena.  A  small 
portion  of  the  force  employed  in  those  operations,  which  would 
have  been  of  no  advantage,  even  if  perfectly  successful,  might 
have  expelled  the  Spaniards  forever  from  Florida ;  but  the  British 
Government  may  possibly  have  considered  a  Spanish  garrison  at 
St.  Augustine  useful,  as  a  salutary  check  on  the  tendencies  to 
self-government,  which  had  already  occasionally  manifested  them 
selves  among  all  the  English  colonies  in  America.  In  like  man 
ner,  though  the  differences  between  Great  Britain  and  France  on 
several  important  questions  were  then  daily  increasing,  and  the 
French  were  preparing  for  the  struggle  in  the  New  World,  by 
strengthening  their  great  fortresses  of  Quebec  and  Louisburg,  and 
securing  the  Indians  in  their  behalf,  the  English  provinces  were 
left  to  provide  for  their  own  safety  by  their  own  resources. 

The  losses  thus  sustained  by  Vernon  at  Carthagena,  in  1740, 
obliged  him  to  return  with  his  fleet  to  Europe  in  the  following 
year;  and  the  Spaniards  relieved  from  that  danger,  resolved  im 
mediately  to  direct  their  forces  against  Carolina  and  Georgia.  For 
this  purpose  several  thousand  men  and  a  large  fleet  were  sent  to 
St.  Augustine  under  Don  Antonio  deArredondo;  and  being  there 
joined  by  others  under  the  Governor  Monteano,  they  took  their 
departure  in^the  middle  of  June,  1742,  for  the  coast  of  Georgia. 

The  English  had  been  warned  of  their  danger  some  time  be 
fore,  and  General  Oglethorpe  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  place 
the  exposed  points  under  his  command  in  a  state  of  defence. 
Unfortunately  however,  he  was,  as  already  mentioned,  by  no  means 
a  favorite  in  Carolina,  either  with  the  government  or  the  people, 
and  there  was  much  discontent  with  his  administration  in  Geor 
gia;  so  that  he  could  only  assemble  about  seven  hundred  men, 
of  whom  the  majority  were  militia^  and  a  few  Indians,  before  the 
Spanish  ships  made  their  appearance  off  the  entrance  of  St.  Si 
mon's  Sound,  forming  the  harbor  of  Frederica.  On  this  sound 
batteries  had  been  erected  with  a  strong  fort  on  the  channel,  which 
separates  St.  Simon's  Island  from  the  mainland ;  the  Spanish 
ships,  however,  passed  the  batteries  after  a  severe  engagement, 
in  which  their  loss  was  considerable,  and  they  anchored  on  the 
5th  of  July,  within  ten  miles  of  Frederica. 

Frederica  stood  on  the  west  side  of  St.  Simon's  Island,  oppo- 


1742.]         MONTEANO    LANDS    ON    ST.     SIMON'S    ISLAND.  443 

site  the  mainland  of  Georgia,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  the 
channel  above  mentioned :  the  part  of  the  island  between  it  and 
the  place  at  which  the  Spanish  ships  anchored,  was  marshy,  and 
covered  with  thick  woods  ;  and  Oglethorpe,  after  his  batteries 
were  rendered  useless,  had  spiked  the  heavy  guns  and  withdrawn 
all  the  men  for  the  defence  of  the  town.  He  expected  some  sup 
plies  of  soldiers,  provisions  and  ammunition  from  Charleston,  and 
he  was  determined  by  every  means  to  gain  time,  for  which  his 
plan  was  to  harrass  the  enemy  and  retard  their  movements,  but 
to  avoid  a  general  action.  His  men  were,  with  this  object,  posted 
in  several  detachments,  on  the  line  by  which  the  Spaniards  would 
march ;  and  as  a  last  resource,  in  case  retreat  should  be  necessary, 
the  fort  a  little  below  the  town  was  strong  and  well  armed,  and 
could  contain  all  the  people  and  soldiers. 

The  Spaniards  landed  on  the  6th  of  July,  in  number  not  less 
than  three  thousand;  and  on  the  following  day,  they  marched 
across  the  island  undisturbed,  to  within  two  miles  of  Frederica. 
There,  on  the  edge  of  a  marsh,  between  them  and  the  town,  they 
were  attacked  by  Oglethorpe  so  vigorously,  that  their  advanced 
guard  were  entirely  routed,  and  many  of  them  made  prisoners  be 
fore  the  others  could  come  up,  through  the  thick  woods ;  and  the 
whole  body  was  forced  back  to  the  place  of  their  landing,  where 
they  encamped  under  cover  of  the  guns  of  their  ships,  and  re 
mained  several  days  without  attempting  to  resume  the  offensive. 
During  this  period  they  were  hfirrassed,  especially  at  night,  by 
the  English  and  Indians,  who  killed  large  numbers  ;  while  their 
ranks  were  farther  thinned  by  sickness  and  desertion,  and  their 
energies  were  paralyzed  by  a  violent  dispute,  which  had  arisen 
between  the  two  commanders,  Monteano  and  Arredondo. 

Of  this  state  of  things  among  the  Spaniards,  Oglethorpe  was 
well  informed  by  prisoners  and  deserters ;  and  he  employed  the 
same  channels  to  increase  the  indecision  of  his  enemies,  by  false 
reports  as  to  the  extent  of  his  own  forces,  and  his  expectations 
of  assistance.  He  thus  succeeded  in  convincing  the  Spanish 
commanders,  that  he  was  daily  looking  for  the  arrival  of  Vernon 
with  a  large  fleet  from  England ;  and  when  a  few  vessels  sent 
from  Charleston,  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  appear 
ed  in  front  of  the  island,  no  doubt  was  entertained  by  Monteano 
and  Arredondo,  that  they  were  part  of  the  expected  fleet.  The 


444      THE  SPANIARDS  DEFEATED  AND  EXPELLED.      [1742. 

Spaniards  thereupon  saw  that  they  must  quit  their  confined  posi 
tion  in  the  Sound  without  delay;  before  which,  however,  they  re 
solved  to  make  one  more  effort  for  the  destruction  of  Frederica. 
They  accordingly  set  forth  from  their  camp  on  the  13th,  and  again 
arrived  within  a  short  distance  of  the  town,  where  they  halted  to 
rest;  but  no  sooner  had  they  laid  aside  their  arms,  than  they  were 
attacked  by  the  ever  watchful  Oglethorpe,  defeated  with  dreadful 
slaughter,  and  driven  back  to  their  ships.  On  the  following  day, 
the  14th  of  July,  the  invaders  hastily  re-embarked  and  quitted 
the  Sound,  leaving  a  large  number  of  their  men;  wounded  and 
prisoners,  with  several  pieces  of  cannon  in  the  hands  of  the  Eng 
lish;  and  after  attacking  the  forts  on  Cumberland  island,  with  no 
better  success,  they  sailed  back  to  St.  Augustine  and  Havanna. 

Expeditions  for  invasion  and  conquest  rarely  succeed;  but 
very  rarely  has  one  been  resisted  and  defeated  in  a  manner,  more 
complete  and  more  honorable  to  the  defenders,  than  that  of  the 
Spaniards  against  Georgia  in  1742.  Monteano,  on  his  return, 
was  arrested  and  cashiered,  notwithstanding  his  gallantry  and 
success,  in  the  defence  of  St.  Augustine  in  1740.  Oglethorpe 
received  the  congratulations  and  thanks  of  the  Governors  of 
several  of  the  northern  colonies ;  but  from  South  Carolina,  came 
only  an  address  of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Port  Royal,  while 
from  his  own  province  of  Georgia,  a  series  of  charges  of  mis 
conduct  against  him,  were  transmitted  to  England. 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  Oglethorpe  made  another 
expedition  with  a  few  of  his  own  men,  and  a  number  of  Indians 
against  St.  Augustine ;  but  the  Spaniards  were  alarmed  in  time, 
and  ere  he  reached  the  town,  they  were  so  well  prepared  to  receive 
him,  that  he  was  obliged  to  return  without  effecting  any  thing,  to 
Frederica.  After  this  repulse,  he  proceeded  to  England,  where  a 
court  martial  was  ordered  to  examine  the  charges  which  had 
been  made  against  him.  They  were  pronounced  groundless  and 
malicious,  and  he  was  acquitted  in  the  most  honorable  manner;  and 
he  did  good  service  against  the  Pretender  in  1745.  He  however 
did  not  again  visit  America,  being  probably  unwilling  either  to 
oppose,  or  to  admit  the  changes  apparently  inevitable,  in  the  sys 
tem  which  he  had  established  in  Georgia;  and  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  prolonged  to  ninety  years,  was  passed  in  England,  in  the 
enjoyment  of  all  the  happiness  which  respectability,  wealth,  and 
fortunate  domestic  associations,  could  secure  to  man. 


1743. J  B1ENVILLE    SUPERSEDED    BY    VAUDREUIL,  445 

The  trustees  of  Georgia  endeavored  for  some  years  longer,  to 
maintain  their  system,  but  the  resistance  of  the  people  rendered 
it  in  time  impossible.  Negroes  were  introduced  from  South  Caro 
lina,  as  servants  hired  for  one  year,  and  the  term  was  then  ex 
tended  to  ten  years,  and  even  to  a  hundred  years,  until  they  were 
at  length  openly  imported  from  Africa,  as  rum  was  brought  in 
from  the  West  Indies.  Dissensions  also  arose  among  the  people 
from  these  and  other  causes,  and  in  1751  the  charter  was  surren 
dered  to  the  crown,  after  which  the  peculiar  restrictions  intro 
duced  by  Oglethorpe  were  removed,  and  the  country  b$gan  to 
exhibit  signs  of  prosperity. 

In  the  meantime,  a  change  was  made  in  the  direction  of 
affairs  in  Louisiana.  Bienville's  conduct  in  his  expeditions 
against  the  Chickasas,  had  subjected  him  to  numerous  expressions 
of  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  ministry,  which,  becoming 
known  in  Louisiana,  encouraged  his  enemies  to  treat  him  with 
contempt  and  ridicule.  In  vain  did  he  set  forth  his  services  in 
memorials;  in  vain  did  he  enumerate  the  Chickasa  scalps,  taken 
under  his  influence  by  the  Choctas  ;  in  vain  did  he  show  his  in 
veterate  hatred  towards  the  English,  by  confining  in  dungeons, 
or  surrendering  to  the  Spaniards,  the  unfortunate  subjects  of  that 
nation,  who  were  found  on  the  Ohio,  or  the  Mississippi,  or  were 
delivered  to  him  by  the  Indians.*  These  services  availed  him 
nothing,  and  he  had  no  other  alternative  than  to  request  his  re 
call;  it  was  granted,  and  on  the  10th  of  May^,  1743,  he  yielded 
up  the  command  at  New  Orleans,  to  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil, 
the  son  of  a  former  Governor  General  of  New  France,  who  had 
been  appointed  to  succeed  him. 

From  what  has  been  shewn  of  Bienville's  course,  during  his 
long  connexion  with  Louisiana,  it  will  be  seen  that  he  merits  a 
conspicuous  place  in  the  history  of  the  New  World ;  though  not 
so  much  from  his  own  character  and  talents,  as  from  the  nature 
of  the  events,  in  which  he  bore  a  part,  always  important.  He 
seems  to  have  been,  in  the  first  place,  really  anxious  for  the  ad 
vancement  and  good  of  the  colony,  for  which  he  was  ready  to 

*  Among  the  persons  thus  imprisoned,  was  John  Peter  Sallee,  a  Virginian, 
who  after  several  years  of  imprisonment  in  Louisiana,  escaped  and  returned  to 
his  country,  where  he  settled,  on  James  River  at  its  confluence  with  North 
River,  immediately  east  of  the  Blue  ridge. 


446  CHARACTER    OF    BIENVILLE.  [1743. 

commit  any  act,  however  repugnant  to  honor  or  humanity.  His 
desire  was  to  see  flourishing  French  settlements  rise  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi ;  and  with  that  object,  he  applied  himself  dili 
gently  to  the  extermination  of  the  natives  of  those  regions,  by 
every  means,  which  could  have  been  admissible,  with  regard  to 
noxious  animals.  He  made  war  on  them  openly  with  his  own 
forces ;  and  he  encouraged  them  to  destroy  each  other  by 
fomenting  their  mutual  animosities,  and  exciting  their  cupidity, 
and  by  offering  in  his  own  conduct,  examples  of  cruelty  arid 
treachery,  which  could  not  have  failed  to  produce  serious  effects 
upon  trfe  short-sighted  savages.  That  the  inferior  races  of  man 
— to  whom  nature  has  denied  the  capacity  to  improve  what 
the  earth  offers — must  yield  and  disappear  before  those  endowed 
with  higher  powers,  is  a  law  against  the  execution  of  which,  it 
would  be  vain  to  contend :  but  the  people  to  whom  the  task  of 
enforcing  it  is  committed,  may  and  should,  do  so,  with  leniency; 
and  their  governments  are  bound  to  employ  only  just  and  humane 
men  for  this  purpose,  as  much  as  for  the  management  of  their 
prisons,  or  asylums  for  the  insane.  Of  such  qualifications,  no 
man  possessed  less  than  Bienville;  nor  was  any  mode  of  life  less 
calculated  to  encourage  feelings  of  honor,  justice  or  humanity, 
than  that  in  which  he  was  engaged,  from  youth  to  old  age,  among 
rogues,  ruffians  and  savages.  With  what  degree  of  faith  he 
served  his  government,  we  know  not :  it  would  be  unfair  to  pro 
nounce  him  guilty  of  the  numerous  delinquencies  with  which  he 
was  charged,  during  his  residence  in  Louisiana;  but  we  are  au 
thorised  to  suspect,  that  one  uniformly  false  and  treacherous 
to  his  enemies,  could  not  have  been  always  true  to  his  friends.* 

Vaudreuil  assumed  the  government  of  Louisiana  at  a  critical 
period,  when  all  Europe  was  again  involved  in  war  by  the  selfish 
ambition  of  its  sovereigns;  and  the  contest  was  as  before,  extend 
ed  to  the  American  dominions  of  England,  France  and  Spain. 

The  causes  of  this  war  were  numerous.  The  imperial  crown  of 
Germany  was  in  dispute  between  Maria  Theresa,  Queln  of  Hun- 

*  Bienville  probably  left  Louisiana  with  a  moderate,  if  not  a  large  fortune. 
His  plantation,  opposite  to  New  Orleans,  was  purchased  by  his  successor,  M.  de 
Vaudreuil.  He  proceeded  immediately  to  Paris,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life  in  retirement,  and  died  in  1767,  in  his  eighty-sixth  year,  after  seeing— 
no  doubt  to  his  grief  and  mortification— the  colony  for  which  he  had  so  long 
labored,  transferred  to  the  dominion  of  another  nation. 


1743.]  GENERAL    WAR    IN    EUROPE.  447 

gary,  and  the  Elector  Charles  of  Bavaria.  Frederic  II.  who  had 
just  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Prussia,  was  anxious  to  include  in 
his  kingdom  the  Austrian  province  of  Silesia,  and  Hanover  the 
patrimony  of  the  King  of  England.  Philip  V.  of  Spain  desired 
to  regain  Gibraltar  and  Minorca,  and  to  secure  two  of  his  sons  on 
the  thrones  of  Naples  and  Parma.  Louis  XV.  of  France  wished 
to  enjoy  the  pomp  and  parade  of  a  war,  for  which  the  acquisi 
tion  of  some  territory  in  the  Netherlands  or  on  the  Rhine,  was  the 
pretext.  England  wanted  nothing  except  peace  with  Spain;  but 
George  II.  was  determined  at  all  hazards,  not  to  lose  Hanover. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  hostilities  were  begun  in  Germany 
in  1741:  in  February  of  the  following  year,  Sir  Robert  Walpole, 
unable  longer  to  maintain  his  position,  was  obliged  to  resign  the 
direction  of  the  State;  and  in  January,  1743,  his  old  coadjutor, 
Cardinal  Fleury  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  leaving  Louis  XV. 
at  full  liberty  to  pursue  the  course  which  his  favorites  and  mis 
tresses  might  point  out  to  him.  English  and  French  armies  were 
sent  into  Germany,  where  they  soon  came  into  collision,  and  the 
French  were  utterly  routed  at  Dettingen  on  the  27th  of  June. 
Alliances  were  then  formed  ^between  France,  Spain,  Prussia  and 
Bavaria,  on  the  one  side,  and  between  Great  Britain,  Holland 
and  the  Queen  of  Hungary  on  the  other;  and  the  struggle  became 
general  throughout  Europe  before  the  end  of  the  year. 

At  this  period  a  secret  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  sove 
reigns  of  France  and  Spain,  which  deserves  special  notice  from 
the  peculiarities  of  its  provisions,  and  the  importance  of  their 
consequences  in  the  New  World  as  well  as  in  Europe.  By  this 
treaty,  concluded  at  Fontainebleau  on  the  25th  of  October,  1743, 
the  two  monarchs  guarantied  to  each  other,  in  terms  far  more 
specific  and  binding  than  those  employed  in  any^  previous  en 
gagement,  "  all  their  kingdoms,  states  and  lordships,  as  well 
in  as  out  of  Europe,  and  all  the  rights  which  they  have,  or  ought 
to  have  therein."  Particular  provisions  were  made  for  the  de 
struction  of  the  colony  of  Georgia,  for  the  liberation  of  Spain 
from  the  Asiento  treaty,  and  for  the  restoration  to  that  power,  of 
all  the  territories  of  which  she  had  been,  or  might  be,  despoiled  by 
England:  and  this  alliance  was  soon  after  rendered  common  to  the 
King  of  Naples  and  the  Duke  Parma,  sons  of  Philip  V.  being,  as 
expressly  stated  in  the  additional  article  to  that  effect,  signed  in 


448       FIRST  FAMILY  COMPACT  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN.     [1743. 

November  following,  intended  as  a  Pacte  de  Famillc,  or  Family 
Compact,  between  the  various  Princes  of  the  House  of  Bourbon. 
The  treaty  so  well  known  by  the  same  appellation,  concluded  in 
1761,  was  merely  a  development  and  confirmation  of  this  the 
original  compact,  which  carried  into  execution  the  design  of 
Louis  XIV.,  and  subsisted,  without  infringement  by  either  of  the 
parties,  until  the  French  revolution.  * 

Of  the  dreadful  battles  and  sieges  in  the  Netherlands,  Germa 
ny  and  Italy,  and  the  conflicts  on  the  ocean  during  this  war  it 
would  be  needless  to  speak.  The  invasion  of  Great  Britain  by 
the  Stuart  pretender  to  the  throne  in  1745,  may  however  be  men 
tioned,  as  it  rendered  necessary  the  retention  of  the  forces  of  that 
nation  at  home,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  directed 
against  the  French  and  Spanish  provinces  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

In  America  the  news  of  the  war  between  England  and  France 
was  first  received  in  the  spring  of  1744,  by  the  Governor  of  the 
French  Island  of  Cape  Breton,  who  immediately  sent  a  body  of 
men  to  occupy  the  neighboring  English  settlement  of  Canso,  in 
Nova  Scotia.  Nothing  of  great  importance  occurred  during  that 
year;  but  in  June  following,  the  strong  fortress  and  town  of 
Louisbourg,  the  capital  of  Cape  Breton,  on  which  the  French 
had  expended  such  vast  sums,  as  to  render  it  apparently  impreg 
nable,  was  besieged  and  taken  by  an  army  of  volunteers  from 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut,  under  William 
Pepperel,  of  Boston,  supported  by  a  small  squadron  from  England. 

The  success  of  this  expedition  encouraged  Mr.  Shirley,  the 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  by  whom  it  was  organized,  to  form 
a  plan  for  the  conquest  of  all  the  other  French  possessions  in 
America,  in  the  same  manner ;  that  is,  by  a  combination  of  land 
forces  from  the  colonies  with  British  ships  of  war.  The  plan 

*  This  treaty  remained  for  a  long  time  unknown,  except  to  the  parties  imme 
diately  concerned;  and  was  first  published  by  Flassan,  in  his  "  Histoire  de  la  Di 
plomatic  Francaise,"  in  1811.  Its  tenth  article  relating  to  America  is  as  follows: 

"  Art.  X.  As  the  safety  of  Florida  cannot  be  complete,  so  long  as  the  new 
colony  of  Georgia  subsists,  for  the  establishment  of  which  the  English  have  never 
yet  been  able  to  produce  any  title  in  justification,  their  said  Majesties  will 
take  measures  in  concert,  to  oblige  the  English  to  destroy  this  new  colony,  as 
well  as  any  other  fort  which  they  may  have  constructed  in  the  territory  of  His 
Catholic  Majesty  in  America,  and  to  restore  the  country  or  places  belonging  to 
Spain  which  the  English  may  have  already  occupied  or  which  they  may  occupy 
in  the  course  of  the  war." 


1745.]  TRIUMPHS    OF    THE     ENGLISH    IN    AMERICA.  449 

was  approved  by  the  government,  and  a  large  armament  was  as 
sembled  at  Portsmouth  in  England  to  be  commanded  by  General 
Sinclair,*  while  not  less  than  eight  thousand  men  wrere  raised  in 
the  colonies:  but  the  ships  were  not  ready  until  the  middle  of 
September,  1746,  when  it  was  considered  too  late  for  their  voy 
age  across  the  ocean ;  and  their  forces  were  in  consequence  di 
rected  against  the  opposite  coast  of  Bretagne,  where  their  efforts 
produced  only  disgrace  and  ridicule.  The  French  made  several 
incursions  from  Canada  into  New  Yor,k  and  New  England, 
which  ended  as  usual  in  the  destruction  of  some  frontier  settle 
ments;  and  in  1746,  they  endeavored  to  regain  Louisbourg  by 
means  of  a  large  naval  armament  under  the  Duke  d'Anville, 
which  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  storms  near  Nova  Scotia. 

The  British  colonies  farther  south  remained  undisturbed  during 
the  war,  from  which  the  principal  inconvenience  suffered  by  them, 
was  the  interruption  of  their  commerce  with  Europe  and  the  West 
Indies,  and  the  murder  of  some  of  their  traders,  by  Indians  in  the 
interest  of  France  or  of  Spain. 

In  Georgia  and  Florida,  no  hostilities  were  committed  by  either 
party  against  the  other,  except  a  few  marauding  expeditions;  nor 
does  any  plan  seem  to  have  been  arranged  between  Spain  and 
France,  for  the  expulsion  of  the  English  from  Georgia,  agreeably 
to  the  engagements  made  in  the  Family  Compact.  All  the  forcer 
of  France  and  Spain,  which  could  be  spared  from  Europe,  were 
in  fact  required  to  preserve  the  dominions  of  those  nations  in  the 
West  Indies,  from  devastation,  if  not  from  conquest,  by  the  pow 
erful  British  fleets  which  ranged  through  the  adjoining  seas,  under 
Knowles,  Hawke,  Townshend,  and  other  distinguished  com 
manders.  Either  of  these  fleets  might  doubtless  have  easily  con 
quered  Florida  or  lower  Louisiana,  as  both  countries  were  entirely 
destitute  of  the  means  of  resistance,  and  they  might  both  have 
been  retained  by  a  few  small  garrisons;  yet  the  vast  armaments 
of  the  English  were  wasted  in  attempts  to  batter  down  the  old 
Spanish  forts  at  Laguaira,  Porto  Cabello  and  other  places  on  the 
coast  of  Terra  Firma,  or  to  capture  islands  which  were  not  worth 
the  expense  of  holding  them. 

*  David  Hume  was  to  have  accompanied  this  expedition,  as  Secretary  to  the 
Commander-in-chief. 

57 


450  LOUISIANA    AS    FOUND    BY    VAUDREUIL.  [1743. 

Louisiana  had  been  left  by  Bienville,  on  his  resignation  of  the 
government  to  Vaudreuil,  in  a  condition  even  worse  than  that  in 
which  he  found  it.  After  forty-four  years  of  subsistence  of  the 
French  colony,  it  contained  only  six  thousand  persons  other  than 
Indians,  and  of  these,  more  than  one-third  were  negroes.*  The 
lower  districts  still  received  a  large  proportion  of  their  provisions 
from  France,  in  consequence  of  the  suspension  of  the  communi 
cations  with  the  Illinois,  by  the  supremacy  of  the  Chickasas  on 
the  Mississippi,  from  the  Arkansas  to  the  Ohio.  From  Pointe 
Coupee  to  Kaskaskia,  through  seven  degrees  of  latitude,  the  only 
French  settlements  were  those  immediately  under  the  guns  of  the 
forts  at  Natchez  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  and  at  Natchi- 
toches  on  the  Red  river,  where  small  quantities  of  Indian  corn 
were  raised,  for  the  support  of  the  inhabitants  and  garrisons,  and 
some  tobacco  for  consumption  in  Europe.  The  tobacco  of  Lou 
isiana,  particularly  that  of  Natchitoches,  indeed  began  to  be 
prized  by  snuff-takers  in  Europe;  and  a  few  small  vessels  annu 
ally  took  from  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  cargoes  of  timber  and 
pitch,  in  return  for  the  rum  and  sugar  which  they  brought  thither. 
These  were,  however,  the  only  exports  from  lower  Louisiana; 
while  in  the  Illinois,  agriculture  was  diminishing,  from  the  want 
of  a  market,  and  the  principal  employment  of  the  people  was  in 
trade  with  the  Indians,  who  gave  their  furs  in  payment  for  articles 
of  French  manufacture  from  Canada. 

All  these  evils  were  of  course  increased  by  the  war  between 
France  and  England,  begun  in  the  autumn  of  1743,  soon  after 
the  arrival  of  Vaudreuil  as  Governor  of  Louisiana;  as  all  inter 
course  with  the  mother  country  was  immediately  out  off,  and  the 
Indians  were  of  course  rendered  discontented,  if  not  hostile,  by 
the  inability  of  the  French  to  supply  them  w7ith  goods,  either  in 
trade  or  as  presents.  The  new  Governor  displayed  much  energy 
and  talent  in  his  efforts  to  sustain  the  colony  under  these  depress 
ing  circumstances — if  that  can  be  called  talent,  which  consisted 

*  According  to  a  census  of  Louisiana,  taken  in  1745,  the  whole  population 
amounted  to  four  thousand,  of  whom  eight  hundred  were  soldiers,  and  the  ne 
groes  to  two  thousand  and  twentyr  New  Orleans  contained  eight  hundred 
whites,  and  three  hundred  blacks,  besides  the  garrison  of  two  hundred  men. 
The  richest  individual  in  the  colony  was  M.  Dubreuil,  who  had  five  hundred 
negroes  employed  on  his  plantations,  particularly  on  that  immediately  adjoining 
New  Orleans,  and  now  occupied  by  the  Third  Municipality  of  that  city. 


1744.]   ENMITY  OF  THE  RED  SHOE  TO  THE  FRENCH. 


451 


chiefly  in  the  dextrous  employment  of  dissimulation  and  false 
hood,  accompanied  by  a  constant  care  for  the  advancement  of  his 
own  interests.  He  re-opened  the  communications  between  the 
lower  country  and  the  Illinois,  by  means  of  squadrons  of  armed 
boats  navigating  the  river;  he  succeeded  in  renewing  the  arrange 
ment  with  the  English  merchants  of  New  York,  Charleston  aryd 
Jamaica,  by  whom  goods  were  secretly  sent  to  New  Orleans  and 
Mobile,  and  there  exchanged  for  deer  skins;  and  he  evinced  the 
utmost  desire  to  effect  a  general  peace  between  those  Indians 
and  the  Chickasas,  with  the  object  of  throwing  the  latter  off  their 
guard,  and  thus  obtaining  an  opportunity  to  destroy  them  entirely. 
Savages  however,  accustomed  from  their  childhood  to  distrust 
every  act  and  word,  are  not  easily  deceived :  the  amiable  propo 
sals  of  Vaudreuil  produced  no  effect  on  the  Chickasas,  who  re 
ceived  his  presents,  and  then  plundered  the  boats  and  frontier 
settlements  of  the  French ;  while  the  great  majority  of  the  Choc 
tas,  under  the  influence  of  the  Red  Shoe,  sided  with  the  English. 
The  Red  Shoe  had  been  much  exasperated  against  the  French 
by  their  failure  to  supply  him  with  certain  presents  of  arms  and 
ammunition  which  had  been  promised,  as  well  as  by  the  seduc 
tion  of  his  favorite  wife,  by  one  of  the  officers  of  Fort  Tombecbe; 
and  he  was  thus  easily  led  to  favor  the  views  of  the  English,  who 
employed  as  their  agent,  the  bold  and  skilful  trader  James  Adair, 
the  author  of  the  interesting  account  of  the  Indian  nations  of  that 
part  of  America,  so  frequently  mentioned  in  these  pages.  Adair, 
like  Vaudreuil,  had  in  view  the  reconciliation  of  the  Chickasas 
with  the  Choctas,  not  however  with  the  object  of  destroying  both, 
but  to  unite  them  in  a  confederacy  with  the  English,  against  the 
French  ;*  he  succeeded  to  a  certain  extent,  and  the  consequences 
might  have  been  very  disastrous  to  the  colony  of  Louisiana,  had 
not  the  impatience  of  the  Indians  led  them  to  commence  hostili 
ties  too  soon,  by  the  murder  of  the  Chevalier  de  Verbois,  a  French 
officer,  and  two  traders  on  the  Alabama  in  the  summer  of  1746. 
The  French  being  thus  put  on  their  guard,  could  not  be  surprised; 
and  their  Governor  immediately  demanded  from  the  Choctas,  the 
head  of  the  Red  Shoe,  who  was  known  to  have  instigated  the 
murders,  as  the  only  means  of  averting  his  vengeance.  This 

*  See  Adair's  Account  of  the  American  Indians,  pages  314  et  seq.,  in  which 
he  gives  full  vent  to  his  detestation  of  the  French. 


452  EFFORTS    OF    VAUDREUIL    IN    LOUISIANA.  [1747. 

demand  Vaudreuil  indeed  had  no  power  to  enforce,  as  he  was 
unprovided  with  men,  arms  or  ammunition,  and  was  in  daily  ex 
pectation  of  an  attack  from  the  British,  who  were  said  to  be  on 
their  way  under  Admiral  Knowles,  to  the  Mississippi:  the  Choc- 
tas  were  nevertheless  disconcerted,  and  it  was  resolved,  in  an 
assembly  of  their  chiefs,  convened  near  Fort  Tombecbe,  by 
Grandpre  the  commandant  of  that  place,  that  the  Red  Shoe  should 
be  put  to  death.  The  party  of  the  doomed  chieftain  was  how 
ever  too  large  for  the  execution  of  this  decree  without  difficulty; 
and  a  civil  war  was  begun  in  that  nation,  which  continued  for 
several  years,  with  little  intermission. 

The  efforts  of  Vaudreuil  were  in  the  meantime  producing  some 
improvement,  especially  in  the  Illinois,  where  agriculture  and 
commerce  were  revived,  in  consequence  of  the  regularity  of  the 
communications  established  on  the  Mississippi.  A  squadron  of 
large  bateaus  ascended  that  river  in  the  spring  of  each  year, 
carrying  such  articles  of  European  or  West  India  merchandise 
as  could  be  received,  despite  the  watchfulness  of  the  English 
cruisers;  and  they  returned  in  the  autumn  with  cargoes  of  Hour, 
meat,  skins,  furs,  lead  and  other  productions  of  the  upper  coun 
try.  For  the  upward  voyage  three  or  four  months  were  required, 
the  descent  being  effected  in  half  of  that  time.  The  Governor 
endeavored  also  to  re-establish  the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mar- 
got,  near  the  lowest  of  the  Chickasa  Bluffs,  in  order  to  exclude 
the  Chickasas  from  the  Mississippi;  but  he  was  never  able  to 
spare  the  number  of  men  requisite  to  garrison  such  a  post,  though 
he  succeeded  in  occupying  another  position  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Ohio,  forty  miles  above  its  mouth,  a  little  below  the  entrance 
of  the  Cherokee  or  .Tennessee  river,  which  was  called  Fort  As 
sumption,*  and  proved  useful  in  securing  the  communications 
\vith  Canada,  by  way  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Miami.  The 
Chickasas,  however,  from  time  to  time,  repeated  their  inroads 
upon  the  French  settlements:  in  1748,  they  surprised  the  estab 
lishment  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  and  killed  or  carried  off 
several  of  the  inhabitants,  before  the  garrison  of  the  fort  could  be 
collected  for  defence;  and  similar  attacks  were  made  by  them  on 
the  German  Coast,  and  on  Pointe  Coupee,  while  New  Orleans 

*  Afterwards  Fort  Massacre,  pnd  by  abbreviation  Fort  Massac,  from  the  sur 
prise  of  the  place  and  the  destruction  of  the  garrison  by  the  Cherokees  in  17G3. 


1748.] 


MURDER    OF    THE    RED    SHOE. 


453 


and  Mobile  were  kept  in  constant  dread  of  invasion,  by  the  Eng 
lish  from  the  Gulf. 

In  the  same  year,  1748,  Vaudreuil  succeeded  in  effecting  the 
death  of  the  Red  Shoe,  who  was  murdered  by  some  Indians  at 
the  instigation  of  French  officers  deputed  for  that  purpose,  whilst 
he  was  escorting  an  English  trader  with  goods  from  the  Chickasa 
country  to  the  Alabama.*  M.  de  Grandpre  the  Commandant  of 
Fort  Tombecbe  seems  to  have  directed  the  measures  for  this  act, 
which  was  executed  through  the  agency  of  Lieutenant  Grondel; 
an  act  excusable  only  on  the  grounds — scarcely  admissible — 
of  its  conformity  with  the  usages  of  all  the  European  nations  then 
holding  dominion  in  America.  It  was  not  however  a  barren 
crime ;  for  though  the  influence  of  the  English  was  still  main 
tained  over  the  Indians  for  some  time,  through  the  exertions  of 
Mingo  Push-kush  the  half  brother  of  the  Red  Shoe,  and  of  Paya- 
mataha  the  great  war  chief  of  the  Chickasas,  yet  the  French  after 
the  termination  of  the  wrar  with  Great  Britain,  regained  their 
power  much  more  easily,  than  they  could  have  done,  had  their 
daring  enemy  survived  to  oppose  them. 

The  war  between  England  and  Spain  produced  as  before,  an 
increase  of  intercourse  between  the  Spanish  and  the  French  pro 
vinces  on  the  Mexican  Gulf,  the  Governors  of  which  were  in 
structed  to  assist  each  other  by  every  means  in  their  power. 

*  Adair  thus  relates  the  particulars  of  this  murder:  "Red  Shoe  afterwards 
fared  the  same  fate,  by  one  of  his  own  countrymen,  for  the  sake  of  a  French 
reward,  while  he  was  escorting  the  foresaid  gallant  trader,  and  others  from  the 
Chickasas  to  his  own  country.  He  had  the  misfortune  to  be  taken  very  sick  on 
the  path,  and  to  lie  apart  from  the  camp,  according  to  their  usual  custom.  A 
Juda,  tempted  by  the  high  reward  of  the  French  for  killing  him,  officiously  pre 
tended  to  take  great  care  of  him :  while  Red  Shoe  kept  his  face  towards  him, 
the  barbarian  had  such  feelings  of  awe  and  pity,  that  he  had  not  power  to  per 
petrate  his  wicked  design ;  but  when  he  turned  his  back,  then  he  gave  the  fatal 
shot.  In  a  moment,  the  wretch  ran  off',  and  though  the  whole  camp  were  out 
in  an  instant,  to  a  considerable  breadth,  he  evaded  their  pursuit,  by  darting  like 
a  snake  into  a  deep  crevice  of  the  earth." — Account  of  the  Indians,  page  328. 

The  French  accounts  of  this  transaction  agree  as  to  the  principal  point  of  the 
demand  (the  head  of  the  Red  Shoe)  by  Vaudreuil,  and  of  his  assassination  by 
Indians  in  the  manner  related  by  Adair;  though  they  differ  as  to  the  direct 
agency  of  the  French  in  the  execution.  Those  who  may  consider  any  moral 
difference  to  exist,  between  urging  the  commission  of  an  act,  and  taking  part 
directly  in  it,  may  consult  Bossu,  Bauclry  de  Lozieres,  and  Gayarre,  as  to  the 
circumstances. 


454  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH  SETTLEMENTS  ON  THE  GULF.  [1746. 

Bienville  supplied  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  with  cannon  and  ammu 
nition  in  1741,  when  an  attack  by  Vernon  on  Vera  Cruz  was  ex 
pected;  and  the  contraband  trade  of  the  French,  with  the  ports  of 
Florida  and  Mexico,  was  in  return  less  severely  interdicted.  At 
tempts  were  likewise  made  by  the  Spaniards,  to" occupy  the  coun 
try  bordering  upon  the  Mexican  Gulf,  between  Panuco  or  Tam- 
pico  and  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo,  now  Matagorda  Bay,  which 
had  remained  uninhabited  and  indeed  unexplored,  and  was  then 
known  under  the  general  name  of  La  Sierra  Gorda.  Authority 
to  "reduce  and  pacificate"  this  vast  territory,  was  in  1739,  grant 
ed  by  the  King  of  Spain  to  Don  Jose  de  Escandon,  as  Lieutenant 
Captain  General  of  La  Sierra  Gorda;  and  through  his  exertions 
and  expenses,  several  small  settlements  were  formed  in  the  course 
of  the  ensuing  twenty  years,  of  which  the  principal  were  New 
Santander  on  the  Santander  river,  entering  the  Gulf  midway  be 
tween  the  Panuco  and  the  Rio  Bravo,  and  Camargo,  Revilla  and 
Laredo  on  the  latter  stream.  The  Spanish  population  of  Texas 
however  increased  but  little,  in  consequence  chiefly  of  the  enmity 
of  the  savages,  who  annually  made  inroads  upon  the  settlements; 
although  the  garrisons  were  strengthened,  and  several  new  mis 
sions  were  founded  on  the  frontiers,  in  the  hope  of  reducing  those 
people  to  quiet  by  mild  means.  The  principal  advance  of  popu 
lation  was  in  the  town  of  San  Fernando  or  San  Antonio  de  Bexar, 
which  contained  about  six  hundred  inhabitants  exclusive  of  the 
soldiers,  in  1743.  The  fort  erected  by  Aguayo  on  the  site  of  La 
Salle's  Fort  St.  Louis,  was  in  the  same  year  abandoned,  on  ac 
count  of  its  insalubrity  and  its  distance  from  the  other  posts;  and 
another  bearing  the  same  name  of  La  Bahia — the  Bay — was 
erected  on  the  Medina  or  San  Antonio  river,  forty  miles  from  its 
mouth,  opposite  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  town  of  Goliad. 

The  lines  of  separation  between  the  possessions  of  Spain  and 
France  were  also  at  this  time,  understood  and  admitted  on  both 
sides,  as  they  subsisted  until  the  termination  of  the  French  do 
minion  in  Louisiana;  the  extravagant  assumptions  of  the  India 
Company  having  been  abandoned,  so  far  as  regarded  the  coun 
tries  occupied  by  the  Spaniards.  The  earliest  map  on  which 
those  lines  have  been  found,  is  that  of  the  West  Indies  and  the 
countries  surrounding  the  Mexican  Gulf  by  D'Anville,  attached 
to  Charlevoix's  History  of  St.  Domingo,  published  at  Paris  in 


1731.]         BOUNDARY  BETWEEN  LOUISIANA    AND  TEXAS. 


455 


1731,  of  the  portion  of  which  including  lower  Louisiana,  an  exact 
copy  is  here  presented. 


On  this  map,  will  be  seen,  a  line  running  north-eastward  from 
the  Mexican  Gulf,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Perdido  river,  as  sepa 
rating  Louisiana  from  Florida  on  the  east;  and  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  a  similar  line,  which  begins  on  the  Gulf,  east 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine — or  R.  Mexicano  as  it  is  called 
by  D'Anville — and  thence  extends  north-westward  between  that 
stream  and  the  Red  river,  dividing  Louisiana  from  the  Span 
ish  province  of  Texas,  or  Tecas,  as  the  name  was  then  usually 
written  by  the  French.*  The  same  lines  may  be  found,  on  all  the 
subsequent  maps  of  D'Anville,  and  of  all  the  other  French  geo 
graphers,  on  which  the  boundaries  of  the  possessions  of  that  nation 
in  North  America  are  traced:  the  eastern  line  extending  from 
the  Perdido  northward,  to  the  dividing  ridge  of  the  Apalachian 
or  Allegany  mountains,  and  along  that  ridge  to  its  termination 

*  The  name  of  R.  Mexicano  may  be  found,  in  the  maps  of  Delisle  published  in 
1718  and  1722,  in  that  of  Popple  in  1733,  in  that  of  Bellin  in  1744,  and  in  a  few 
others  of  the  same  period,  assigned  to  another  river  entering  the  Gulf  east  of  the 
Sabine  ;  and  Humboldt,  in  his  "  Essay  on  New  Spain,"  chap,  viii.,  pronounces  it 
identical  with  the  Mermentao.  All  the  best  authorities,  French,  English  and 
Spanish,  however,  apply  the  name  of  R.  Mexicano  to  the  river  occupying  the 
position  of  the  Sabine,  between  which  and  the  Red  river,  the  Spanish  fortress  of 
Adayes  is  placed;  this  river  is  also  called  the  Magdalena,  but  more  generally  R. 
de  Adayes,  and  very  rarely  the  Sabine,  though  that  name  was  assigned  to  it  by 
the  Spaniards  in  their  first  expeditions  to  Texas. 


1744.] 


REPORT    OF    THE    MARQUIS    DE    ALTAMIRA. 


459 


threat  contained  in  the  concluding  part  of  this  epistle,  was  by  no 
means  calculated  to  render  the  old  French  Commandant  disposed 
to  comply  with  the  summons  of  the  Spaniard ;  in  his  answer  he 
stated — that  "the  Marquis  de  Aguayo  had  erected  the  fort  of 
Adayes  in  1721,  long  before  which  time,  the  French  had  estab 
lished  themselves  on  the  island,  and  in  the  country  adjacent  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Red  river,  where  they  had  houses  and  pens  for 
cattle,  without  any  opposition  from  the  Marquis  or  his  successors; 
that  the  French  represented  the  Natchitoches  Indians,  the  original 
possessors  of  the  territory  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  as  the  Span 
iards  represented  the  Adayes,  who  dwelt  farther  west ;  and  as 
the  space  of  seven  leagues  between  the  two  forts  had  never  been 
divided,  there  wras  no  reason  by  which  the  Spaniards  could  claim 
the  whole  ;  but  however  that  might  be,  he  acted  under  orders 
from  his  superiors,  and  if  attacked  with  arms,  he  would  defend 
himself  in  the  same  way,  leaving  the  consequences  to  fall  on  the 
party  which  might  begin  the  contest. "  The  correspondence  there 
ended;  and  Sandoval,  having  no  means  of  compelling  the  French 
to  retire,  could  only  communicate  t'he  particulars  to  the  Viceroy 
of  Mexico,  who  transmitted  them  to  Madrid. 

In  1736,  Sandoval  was  removed  from  the  government  of  Texas, 
and  a  prosecution  was  commenced  against  him,  at  the  instigation 
of  his  successor,  Don  Carlos  Franquis,  the  proceedings  of  which 
were  continued  for  several  years,  at  great  expense  to  all  concern 
ed.  At  length,  the  evidence  having  been  collected,  it  was  sub 
mitted  to  the  Marquis  de  Altamira,  Auditor  of  War  at  Mexico, 
who  presented  his  report  on  the  subject  to  the  Viceroy,  Count' de 
Fonclara,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1744.*  In  this  long  and  able  docu 
ment,  the  Marquis  enters  into  the  particulars  of  the  settlement  of 
Texas,  which  are  related  fairly  and  dispassionately;  and  he  con 
cludes  by  declaring  as  his  conviction — "that  the  place  called  the 
Great  Mountain,  midway  between  the  two  posts  of  Adayes  and 
Natchitoches,  had  been  always  regarded  as  the  definitive  boun- 


*This  report,  of  which  the  author  possesses  a  copy  in  the  original  Spanish,  is 
the  principal  source  of  the  information  here  presented,  with  regard  to  this  dis 
pute  as  to  boundaries,  between  the  authorities  of  Louisiana  and  those  of  Texas. 
The  conclusions  are  repeated  and  confirmed  by  numerous  other  official  docu 
ments  of  later  date,  showing  that  no  doubt  existed  among  the  Spaniards,  as  to 
the  admission  of  the  boundary  on  both  sides. 


460  SOUTH-WEST    BOUNDARY    OF    TEXAS.  [1744. 

dary  separating  the  dominions  of  the  two  crowns,  and  not  the 
Red  river,  on  this  [south]  side  of  which,  the  French  had  houses 
and  other  possessions,  extending  as  far  as  the  said  Great  Moun 
tain."  This  opinion  of  the  Auditor  was  no  doubt  confirmed  by 
the  Government,  as  the  French  remained  in  quiet  occupation  of 
the  place  'chosen  by  them,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Red  river, 
where  the  town  of  Natchitoches  now  stands.  The  Great  Moun 
tain  was  a  range  of  low  hills,  along  the  foot  of  wrhich,  as  stated 
in  the  report,  flows  the  small  stream  called  Arroyo  Hondo,  or 
Deep  rivulet,  ever  after  regarded  as  the  precise  dividing  line  be 
tween  the  two  jurisdictions. 

The  report  of  the  Marquis  de  Altamira,  also  states  with  pre 
cision,  the  other  boundaries  of  Texas,  on  which  points  he,  as 
Auditor  of  War,  was  the  highest  authority.  In  describing  the 
provinces  adjoining  on  the  south,  he  says — "  Next  beyond  the 
kingdom  of  New  Leon  is  the  province  and  government  of  Coa- 
huila  or  New  Estremadura,  extending  more  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty  leagues  in  length,  from  the  river  Medina,  where 
begins  our  farthermost  province  and  government  of  Texas  or  the 
New  Philippines." — "From  the  river  Medina,  where  the  said 
province  of  Texas  begins,  to  the  Fort  of  Adayes  where  it  ends, 
its  breadth  from  the  west  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  is  about  eighty 
leagues."4  The  Medina  is  the  river  now  called  the  San  Antonio; 
the  latter  name  being  applied  by  the  Spaniards  only  to  the  small 
stream,  on  which  the  town  of  San  Fernando  or  San  Antonio  de 
Bexar  is  situated,  falling  into  the  Medina  at  a  short  distance  be 
low  that  place  :  the  eighty  leagues  which  are  given  as  the  extent 
of  the  province  westward  from  the  Mexican  Gulf,  would  include  all 
the  territory  east  of  the  range  of  mountains  or  highlands  where 
lie  the  sources  of  the  Neches,  the  Trinity,  and  all  the  other  rivers 
of  Texas,  except  the  Brazos  and  Colorado.  The  limits  thus  de 
fined  remained  unchanged,  during  the  whole  period  of  the  pos 
session  if  the  country  by  Spain,  and  appear  to  have  been  adopted 


*  See  also  the  "  Teatro  Americano,  Descripcion  General  de  la  Nueva  Espafla" 
by  Antonio  de  Villa-Sefior  y  Sanchez,  published  at  Madrid  in  1748,  containing 
minute  information,  geographical  and  statistical,  respecting  the  Mexican  pro 
vinces;  and  the  Appendix  to  the  Journal  of  the  expedition  of  Captain  Z.  M.  Pike 
through  the  northernmost  of  those  provinces  in  1806,  describing  them  from  notes 
afforded  by  the  Spanish  authorities. 


1748.] 


PEACE  OF  AIX  LA  CHAPELLE. 


461 


and  continued   by  the  Mexicans  so  long  as  they  held  dominion 
in  those  countries. 

In  the  meantime  Philip  V.  died  in  July,  1746,  leaving  the 
crown  of  Spain  to  his  eldest  son  Ferdinand  V.,  that  of  Naples  to 
another  son  vDon  Carlos,  and  that  of  Parma  to  the  third  Don 
Philip.  Many  alliances  among  the  powers  of  Europe  had  been 
made,  and  many  had  been  broken;  some  of  the  most  important 
questions  in  dispute  had  however  been  settled  de  facto,  and  the 
reasons  for  continuing  the  war  were  thus  so  far  diminished  at  the 
commencement  of  1748,  that  the  parties  engaged  in  it,  were  in 
duced  to  agree  on  certain  terms  for  its  termination.  A  congress 
of  plenipotentiaries  was  accordingly  assembled  at  Aix  la  Chapelle, 
where  a  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  18th  of  October,  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  Provinces  on  the  one  hand,  and 
France  on  the  other,  to  which  Spain,  Austria,  and  the  remaining 
States  subsequently  acceded.  The  great  European  questions 
were  thereby  definitively  settled :  Maria  Theresa  was  acknow 
ledged  as  Empress  of  Germany  and  possessor  of  all  the  Austrian 
dominions,  except  Silesia,  which  was  secured  to  Prussia,  and 
Parma  which  was  left  to  Don  Philip  of  Spain ;  the  right  of  the 
House  of  Hanover  to  the  throne  of  England  was  confirmed,  and 
the  pretensions  of  the  Stuarts  forever  set  at  rest;  and  other  ar 
rangements  were  made,  with  the  exception  of  which,  all  things 
were  to  return  to  the  same  state,  as  before  the  war.  This  latter 
provision  was  extended  to  America,  including  the  admission  of 
the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  advantages  of 
the  Mento,  during  the  four  years  from  1739  to  1743,  for  the  loss 
of  which  she  was  to  be  indemnified:  all  territories  and  places 
taken  by  either  of  the  belligerants  from  the  other,  were  of  course 
to  be  restored;  and  the  rights  of  each  were  to  remain  precisely  as 
they  stood  before  the  commencement  of  the  hostilities,  agreeably 
to  the  treaties  of  Utrecht,  and  to  others  which  were  renewed  so  far 
as  they  related  to  such  rights.  These  arrangements  were  con 
sidered  in  England,  as  constituting  a  poor  return  for  the  expenses 
of  the  war,  and  the  gallantry  which  had  been  displayed  by  the 
nation  in  conducting  it;  while  the  French  and  the  Spaniards, 
had  reason  to  congratulate  themselves  on  such  a  termination  of 
the  contest,  in  which  neither  of  those  parties  had  gained  laurels, 
or  any  other  advantages. 


72  PROGRESS    OF    DISCOVERY     IN    AMERICA.  [1748. 

Many  additions,  some  of  them  important,  were  made  to  the 
geography  and  history  of  North  America,  in  the  interval  of  time 
to  which  this  chapter  relates.  The  search  for  a  north-west  pas- 
sage,  or  northern  channel  of  communication  between  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific  Oceans,  was  renewed,  in  consequence  of  the  ttv- 
quent  attacks  made  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  for  the  neg 
lect  of  the  condition  implied  in  its  charter,  that  it  should  perse 
vere  in  this  search,  and  of  the  offer  by  the  British  Government, 
of  a  reward  of  twenty  thousand  pounds,  to  the  discoverer  of  such 
a  channel;  and  some  voyages  were  made,  by  which  the  north 
western  arms  of  the  Bay  were  explored  farther  than  before.  The 
French  at  the  same  time,  became  more  familiar  with  the  countries 
between  the  Ohio  and  the  Lakes;  and  they  penetrated  the  wil 
derness  north-westward  from  those  great  reservoirs,  to  a  consid 
erable  distance,  though  certainly  not  beyond  the  range  of  moun 
tains  which  divides  the  waters  flowing  respectively  into  the  two 
Oceans.  The  Russians  likewise  entered  upon  the  career  of  dis 
covery,  and  their  gallant  navigators  Bering*  and  Tchirikof,  sailing 
from  Kamtchatka,  ascertained  the  existence  of  many  islands,  and 
a  large  extent  of  coast  east  of  that  peninsula,  between  the  54th 
and  the  64th  parallels  of  latitude,  which  were  rightly  conjectured 
to  be  parts  of  America.* 

During  this  period  moreover,  the.  enlightened  Jesuit  Charle- 
voix,  in  1744,  published  his  history  of  New  France,  including  all 
the  possessions  of  the  French  in  North  America,  accompanied  by 
the  journal  of  his  travels  through  those  countries  in  1721-2.  The 
Histories  of  Virginia  by  Keith  and  Stith,  the  Historical  and  Po 
litical  Summary  of  the  English  Provinces  by  Douglass,  the  His 
tory  of  the  Five  Nations  of  Indians  by  Golden,  the  Natural  His 
tory  of  Carolina,  Florida,  &,c.  by  Catesby,  the  Maps  of  D'Anville, 
Bellin  and  Popple — the  latter  more  remarkable  for  size  than  for 
accuracy — were  likewise  given  to  the  public;  all  tending  in  va 
rious  degrees,  to  increase  the  importance  of  the  New  World  in 
the  eyes  of  Europeans,  and  thus  to  bring  on  the  great  events, 
which  soon  followed. 

*  Accounts  ojf  these  discoveries  of  the  Russians,  will  be  found  in  the  fifth 
chapter  of  the  "  History  of  Oregon  and  California,"  by  the  author  of  this  work. 


CHAPTER    XIV 


1749    TO     1763. 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  EXECUTING  THE  TREATY  OF  Aix  LA  CHA- 
PELLE  IN  AMERICA — DISPUTES  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND 
GREAT  BRITAIN  AS  TO  BOUNDARIES — UNSUCCESSFUL  NE 
GOTIATIONS  BY  COMMISSARIES — CONFLICTS  IN  NOVA  SCOTIA 
AND  THE  OHIO  COUNTRIES FlRST  CAMPAIGNS  OF  WASH 
INGTON — KERLEREC  SUCCEEDS  VAUDREUIL  AS  GOVERNOR  OF 
LOUISIANA — WAR  BETWEEN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  FRANCE — 
CANADA  CONQUERED  BY  THE  BRITISH — FRUITLESS  NEGO 
TIATIONS  FOR  PEACE — SECOND  FAMILY  COMPACT  BETWEEN 
FRANCE  AND  SPAIN — SPAIN  JOINS  FRANCE  AGAINST  GREAT 
BRITAIN — SUCCESS  OF  THK  BRITISH — NEW  NEGOTIATIONS 
— TREATY  OF  PEACE  CONCLUDED  AT  PARIS — CESSION  OF 
CANADA,  EAST  LOUISIANA  AND  FLORIDA  TO  GREAT  BRI 
TAIN,  AND  OF  WEST  LOUISIANA  TO  SPAIN. 

THE  war  ended  by  the  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle  had  the  im 
portant  effect  of  bringing  the  English  and  French  colonies  in 
America  distinctly  in  view  of  the  civilized  world,  and  of  inducing 
inquiries  as  to  their  relative  situations,  extent,  and  resources, 
which  were  thenceforward  to  be  admitted  as  elements  in  the  cal 
culations  of  European  statesmen.  The  people  of  the  British 
colonies  at  the  same  time  began  to  make  those  enquiries  and 
comparisons  themselves,  and  to  feel  that  they  had  a  country,  and 
might  have  a  national  existence,  and  a  name,  independent  of  the 
distant  powers  to  which  they  had  been  hitherto  regarded  only  as 
appendages.  The  manifestation  of  these  feelings  had  already 
excited  the  jealousy  of  the  government  of  the  parent  State,  which 
was  to  be  still  farther  increased  by  the  more  important  events 
related  in  the  present  chapter. 


464     NEW  DIFFICULTIES   BETWEEN   FRANCE   &   ENGLAND.   [1749. 

The  restitutions  prescribed  by  the  treaty  were  made,  as  speedily 
as  possible,  in  all  the  quarters  of  the  world;  and  the  people  of 
New  England,  with  feelings  of  deep  mortification,  saw  Louis- 
bourg  and  the  island  on  which  it  stands,  surrendered  to  its  former 
masters,  in  July,  1749.  The  British  ministry,  on  the  other  hund, 
showed  its  determination  to  occupy  Nova  Scotia  effectively,  by 
sending  thither,  immediately  on  the  termination  of  the  war,  a 
number  of  emigrants,  principally  disbanded  soldiers,  and  found 
ing  a  city,  which  was  named  Halifax  in  honor  of  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  upon  the  Bay  of  Chebuc- 
too,  opening  to  the  Atlantic  on  the  south-east  side  of  the  Penin 
sula.  Large  tracts  of  land  upon  the  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio, 
supposed  to  be  still  included  in  the  limits  of  Virginia,  were  at  the 
same  time,  granted  to  an  association  of  persons  in  England  and 
Virginia,  called  the  Ohio  Company,  by  which  agents  and  sur 
veyors  were  immediately  despatched  to  select  proper  sites  for  es 
tablishments  on  that  river;  and  other  associations  in  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Carolina  and  Georgia  were  in  like  manner  authori 
zed  to  trade  and  settle  in  the  territories  claimed  by  those  pro 
vinces,  west  of  their  existing  establishments. 

All  these  acts  of  the  English,  were  however  regarded  by  the 
French,  as  encroachments  upon  their  dominions,  or  on  the  rights 
of  the  Indian  nations,  whom  they  considered  as  under  their  pro 
tection;  and  remonstrances  against  them  were  addressed  to  the 
British  ministers  by  those  of  France,  and  by  the  Governor  Gen 
eral  of  New  France  to  the  Governors  of  the  adjoining  British 
provinces.  In  Nova  Scotia,  a  regular  system  of  hostilities  was 
begun,  between  the  British  settlers  and  the  French  inhabitants  of 
the  country  calling  themselves  neutrals,  in  which  the  troops  on 
both  sides  soon  took  part;  and  the  war  was  continued  with  fury, 
until  1751,  when  it  was  arrested  by  a  compromise  between  the 
Commandants  of  the  two  nations,  until  the  question  of  right  could 
be  decided  by  their  governments.  On  the  Ohio,  a  body  of  armed 
men  was  sent  by  the  Governor  General  La  Galissoniere  from 
Quebec,  under  M.  De  Celeron,  (the  officer  who  had  commanded 
the  Canadians  in  the  war  against  the  Chickasas  in  1740)  with 
orders  to  expel  the  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  intruders,  to  secure 
the  friendship  of  the  Indians,  and  to  select  places  for  fortified 
posts.  These  orders  were  executed  by  De  Celeron  with  lenity 


1749.] 


EXPEDITION  OF  CELERON  TO  THE  OHIO. 


465 


towards  the  traders,  whom  he  dismissed  with  a  warning  not  to 
return  to  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains;  and  he 
carefully  examined  the  upper  branches  of  the  Ohio,  affixing  lead 
en  plates  in  various  places,  with  inscriptions  declaring  the  rights 
of  his  sovereign  to  those  regions.* 

On  the  Mississippi,  the  peace  enabled  the  French  to  regain 
their  influence  over  the  savages,  by  a  more  regular  supply  of 
presents,  and  by  the  increase  in  the  forces  of  the  province,  to 
which  more  than  one  thousand  men  were  sent  in  1749,  to  be  dis 
tributed  among  the  various  garrisons ;  and  a  treaty  was  made 
between  Vaudreuil  and  the  Choctas,  in  the  following  year,  by 
which  the  latter  bound  themselves,  to  exclude  the  English  from 
their  territories,  and  to  continue  the  war  with  the  Chickasas. 
The  agriculture  and  commerce  of  the  country  were  thus  some 
what  advanced;  to  the  benefit  however  chiefly  of  the  Governor 
and  the  other  officers,  who  increased  their  fortunes  by  the  sale  of 
offices,  by  the  purchase  of  paper  money  at  low  prices  to  be  after 
wards  re-issued  in  payment  of  troops  and  workmen,  and  by  every 
other  species  of  extortion  and  embezzlement.  Vaudreuil  was 
moreover,  like  his  predecessors,  at  war  with  the  Royal  Commis 
sary  or  Intendant  of  the  Finances  of  the  colony,  M.  de  la  Rou- 
villiere;  and  each  of  these  personages  sent  to  France  by  every 
vessel  charges  of  misconduct  against  the  other.  Thus  when  the 

*  The  following;  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  on  one  of  these  plates,  which  was 
buried  by  De  Celeron,  according  to  his  official  statement,  on  the  20th  of  July, 
1749,  at  the  foot  of  a  red  oak  tree,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Alleghany,  opposite 
to  the  point  of  a  little  island,  at  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the  Conewango, 
where  the  town  of  Warren  in  Pennsylvania  now  stands. 

''L/ari  mil  sept  cent  quarante  neuf,  du  Regne  de  Louis  XV.  Roi  de  France, 
Nous  Celoron,  Commandant  du  detachement  envoye  par  M.  le  Marquis  de  la  Ga- 
lissoniere,  Commandant  General  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  pour  retablir  la  tranquil- 
lite  dans  quelques  villages  de  ces  Cantons,  avons  enterr£  cette  plaque  au  confluent 
de  1'Ohio  et  du  Kanaougon,  ce  vingt  neuf  Juillet,  pour  monument  du  renouvelle- 
ment  de  possession,  que  nous  avons  prise  de  la  dite  riviere  Ohio,  et  de  toutes  les 
terres  des  deux  cotes,  jusqu'a  la  source  des  dites  rivieres,  ainsi  qu'en  ont  joui  ou 
du.  jouir  les  procedens  Rois  de  France,  et  qu'ils  s'y  sont  maintenus  par  les  armes 
et  par  les  traites,  et  specialement  par  ceux  de  Riswick,  d'Utrecht,  et  d'Aix  la 
Chapelle;  avons  de  plus  affiche  dans  le  meme  lieu  a  un  arbre,  les  armes  du  Roi." 

Several  of  these  plates,  each  eight  or  nine  inches  square,  and  bearing  the 
above  inscription  in  capital  letters,  except  as  to  the  date  and  place  of  deposite, 
have  been  found  at  the  mouths  of  the  Muskingum  and  of  the  Kanawha,  and  at 
other  points  on  the  Ohio. 

59 


466'  FIRST    FRENCH    POSTS    ON    THE    ALLEGHANY.         [1752. 

Governor  complained  of  the  refusal  of  the  Commissary  to  supply 
the  posts  with  necessaries,  and  the  Choctas  with  presents,  the 
latter  declared,  that  the  Marquis  demanded  double  the  requisite 
quantity  of  those  articles,  with  the  sole  object  of  selling  the  sur 
plus  for  his  own  profit,  and  accused  him  moreover,  of  compelling 
the  soldiers  to  frequent  no  other  taverns  than  those  kept  by  his 
own  creatures,  and  of  which  he  shared  the  gains. 

A  large  number  of  the  troops  sent  to  Louisiana,  were  stationed 
in  the  Illinois,  where  Fort  Chartres  wras  rebuilt  on  a  ne\v  and  ex 
tended  plan,  so  as  to  render  it  capable  of  sustaining  a  siege  by 
regular  forces ;  and  in  order  to  secure  the  possession  of  the  Ohio, 
which  was  considered  indispensable  for  the  subsistence  of  the 
French  dominion  in  America,  other  officers  were  successively 
despatched  from  Canada  with  bodies  of  men,  chiefly  marines,  to 
occupy  the  several  points  recommended  by  Celeron.  The  first 
spot  thus  fortified,  was  Presqu'ile  or  the  Peninsula,  on  the  south 
east  side  of  Lake  Erie,  where  the  town  of  Erie  in  Pennsylvania 
now  stands:  another  fort  was  erected  on  the  river  le  Boeuf,  or 
French  Creek,  eighteen  miles  south  of  Presqu'ile;  and  a  third 
called  Fort  Machault,  in  honor  of  the  Minister  of  Marine,  about 
forty-five  miles  farther  in  the  interior,  at  Venango  now  Franklin, 
in  the  angle  formed  by  the  junction  of  French  Creek  writh  the 
Alleghany,  the  great  northern  branch,  or — as  the  French  consid 
ered  it — the  main  stream  of  the  Ohio.  Traders  and  settlers  from 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  however  still  continued  to  resort  to 
those  countries;  and  the  seizure  of  some  of  these  men,  who  were 
sent  as  prisoners  to  France,  in  1751,  contributed  to  increase  the 
difficulties  between  the  Governments  of  the  two  nations. 

The  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle,  had  indeed  left  many  important 
points  relative  to  America,  for  future  settlement  by  negotiation. 
The  rights  and  dominions  of  the  two  nations  were,  according  to 
its  ninth  article,  "to  be  restored  on  the  same  footing  as  they  were 
or  should  have  been,*  before  the  commencement  of  the  present 
war;"  no  other  indications  being  given  as  to  what  that  "footing" 

*The  words  "should  have  been"  are  omitt?^  in  some  English  copies  of  the  trea 
ty,  the  French  of  which,  is  however  the  only  authentic  version,  by  the  terms  of 
its  separate  articles.  The  Abbe  Mably,  in  his  "  Droit  Public  de  1'Europe,"  chap, 
xiv.,  states  that  these  words  were  adroitly  inserted  by  the  English  plenipotentia 
ry,  in  order  to  afford  a  pretext  for  the  wide  interpretation,  which  was  afterwards 
given  to  the  terms  of  the  restitution. 


1752.] 


PRETENDED  SETTLEMENT  OF  BOUNDARY. 


467 


was,  or  "should  have  been,"  at  the  period  prescribed,  except  by 
reference  to  various  anterior  treaties,  which  were  specially  renewed 
and  confirmed,  in  all  points  not  otherwise  settled,  by  the  stipula 
tions  then  made.  The  Utrecht  treaty,  the  most  recent  of  these 
agreements,  was  however  entirely  silent  as  to  boundaries;  for  al 
though  certain  countries  therein  named,  were  ceded  or  admitted  to 
belong  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties,  their  limits  and  all  other 
questions  concerning  them,  were  expressly  reserved  for  determina 
tion,  or  rather  for  ascertainment,  by  Commissaries,  according  to 
the  terms  of  previous  treaties,  which  were  equally  indefinite  on 
those  points;  and  the  attempts  to  effect  such  determinations,  had 
produced  no  result  in  any  case. 

Assertions  had  indeed  been  made  about  this  period,  by  certain 
English  writers  on  history  and  geography,  that  some  line  of  sep 
aration  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories  belonging  to  Great 
Britain  on  the  north,  and  the  dominions  of  the  French  next  ad 
joining  on  the  south,  had  been  determined  by  Commissaries  of 
those  nations,  appointed  agreeably  to  the  tenth  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht,"  which  provided  for  that  mode  of  settling  the  ques 
tion,  and  were  admitted  by  their  governments.  These  assertions, 
however,  all  proceeded  from  persons  entitled  to  no  confidence; 
and  they  differed  from  each  other  materially  as  to  the  course  of 
the  supposed  boundaries:  one  of  them  represented  the  line  as  ex 
tending  from  a  point  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  midway  between  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  Hudson's  Strait,  south-westward  to  the  49th 
degree  of  latitude;  another  continued  this  line  westward  along 
the  49th  parallel  to  the  Pacific ;  while  a  third  gave  a  totally  dif 
ferent  boundary,  following  the  course  of  the  highlands  separating 
the  waters  of  Hudson's  Bay  from  those  falling  into  the  St.  Law 
rence,  the  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi.  They  appear  to  have  at 
tracted  little  or  no  attention  at  the  time  when  they  were  made; 
and  had  been  generally  forgotten,  like  many  others  of  a  similar 
kind,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when  one  of  them, 
presenting  the  boundary  as  fixed  on  the  49th  parallel,  was  revived 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  became  in  time,  the 
base  of  two  important  treaties  of  limits,  between  that  Republic 


*  See  that  article  in  full,  with  the  account  of  the  negotiation  between  the 
English  and  French  Commissaries,  at  page  347  of  the  first  volume. 


468   PRETENDED  LIMITS  UNDER  THE  UTRECHT  TREATY.  [1750. 

and  Great  Britain.     It  is  now  certain  that  no  such  settlement  of 
boundaries  in  that  quarter  was  ever  effected;*  and  it  is  only  ex- 

*The  earliest  mention  of  such  a  supposed  settlement  of  boundaries,  appears 
in  the  fourth  volume,  page  349  of  the  "  History  of  America"  by  Salmon,  a  writer 
of  all-work  for  the  London  booksellers,  published  in  1739,  as  a  part  of  the  cele 
brated  compilation  called  the  Universal  History.  It  is  in  these  words: — ''Com 
missioners  did  afterwards  settle  the  limits,  by  an  imaginary  line,  drawn  from  a 
promontory  situate  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  in  58  degrees  30  minutes,  and  running 
from  thence  south-west  to  Lake  Miscosink  or  Mistasin,  and  from  thence  south 
west  indefinitely,  to  the  latitude  of  forty-nine ;  all  the  countries  to  the  north  be 
ing  assigned  to  Great  Britain,  and  all  on  the  south,  between  that  line  and  the 
river  of  St.  Lawrence  or  Canada,  to  France." 

This  assertion  was  adopted,  without  any  variation, by  Hutchins  in  his  "  Histori 
cal  and  Topographical  Account  of  Louisiana,"  published  in  1784.  Douglass  thus 
presents  it  with  a  notable  addition,  in  his  ''Summary  of  the  English  Provinces  in 
America,"  vol.  1,  page  8: — "  By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  the  Canada  or  French  line 
with  Hudson's  Bay  Company  or  Great  Britain  was  ascertained,  viz:  from  a  cer 
tain  promontory  upon  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  in  north  latitude  58  degrees  30  min 
utes,  to  run  south-west  to  Lake  Mistasin  (which  communicates  by  Indian  water 
carriage,  by  Rupert's  river  with  Hudson's  Bay,  and  by  Seguany  river  with  St. 
Lawrence  river  at  the  port  of  Tadousac,  thirty  leagues  below  Quebec,)  and 
from  thence  continued  still  south-west,  to  north  latitude  forty-nine  degrees,  and 
from  thence  due  west  indefinitely." 

In  the  meantime  D'Anville's  fine  map  of  North  America  had  appeared,  in  1746, 
presenting  the  line  of  separation  between  the  British  and  French  dominicris 
south  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  as  already  said,  running  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Perdido,  north-eastward  to  and  along  the  Apalachian  or  Alle- 
ghany  chain,  in  its  whole  length,  and  thence  eastward  to  the  Atlantic,  near  the 
Bay  of  Fundy.  North  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  a  dotted  line  is  traced  on  this  map, 
nearly  parallel  to  the  eastern  shore  of  James'  Bay,  (the  southernmost  part  of 
Hudson's  Bay,)  extending  from  the  54th  degree  of  latitude  south-westward  ir 
regularly  to  the  51st,  as  representing  the  course  of  the  highlands  separating  the 
waters  of  that  Bay  from  those  flowing  to  the  Atlantic  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  arid 
marked  "  Hauteur  des  terres."  In  the  copy  of  this  map  published  in  London  in 
1752,  "greatly  improved  by  John  Bclton,"  all  these  lines  disappear,  the  boundaries 
being  made  to  suit  the  views  of  Great  Britain;  and  a  line  is  introduced  in  the 
course,  described  by  Douglass  with  the  following  note  near  it  on  the  map — "  The 
line  that  parts  French  Canada  from  British  Canada,  was  settled  by  Commissaries 
after  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  making  a  course  from  Davis'  Inlet  on  the  Atlantic 
Sea,  down  to  the  46th  degree,  through  the  Lake  Abitibis  to  the  North  West 
Ocean :  therefore  D'Anville's  dotted  line  east  of  James'  Bay  is  false."  This  line 
may  be  found  traced  on  some  of  the  maps  published  in  the  middle  of  the  last  cen 
tury  ;  while  others,  including  those  of  Mitchell  and  Jeffries  in  1755,  of  Bennet 
1776,  of  Faden  1777,  and  of  Harrison  in  1787,  present  a  line  following  the  course 
of  the  highlands  enclosing  the  waters  of  Hudson's  Bay  on  the  south,  as  the 
"  Bounds  of  Hudson's  Bay  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht ;"  but  the  greater  number, 
embracing  nearly  all  those  of  highest  authority,  contain  no  line  of  separation 
between  the  dominions  of  France  and  Great  Britain  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

This  subject  will  be  farther  treated  hereafter  at  pages. 


1751.]         NEGOTIATIONS    OF    COMMISSARIES    AT    PARIS. 


469 


traordinary,  that  these  assertions,  so  evidently  unsupported,  should 
have  obtained  credit  among  statesmen. 

Of  the  impossibility  of  settling  those  questions  of  boundary  by 
arrangement,  the  Governments  of  France  ancF  Great  Britain  must 
have  been  doubtless,  as  on  the  previous  occasions,  well  aware. 
An  attempt  was  however  made,  in  appearance  at  least,  with  that 
object,  while  each  nation  was  ardently  engaged,  as  already  shown, 
in  endeavoring  to  secure  the  possession  of  the  disputed  territories, 
by  occupation,  or  by  the  increase  of  its  influence  over  the  Indians. 
Commissaries  were  appointed  by  each  Government,  who  met  at 
Paris  in  the  summer  of  1750;  Mr.  Shirley,  late  Governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  Mr.  Mildmay  being  the  representatives  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  Marquis  de  la  Galissoniere  late  Governor  General 
of  New  France,  and  M.  Silhouette,  acting  on  the  part  of  France. 

The  duty  first  assigned  to  the  Commissaries,  was  to  fix  the 
limits  of  the  country  secured  to  Great  Britain  by  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht,  under  the  name  of  Acadie  or  Nova  Scotia.  The  Eng 
lishmen  opened  the  discussion  by  claiming  for  their  nation,  the 
whole  territory  extending  from  New  England  to  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  between  the  river  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Atlantic;  de 
nying  to  the  French  any  right,  to  any  portion  of  the  Continent 
south  of  that  river.  The  French  on  the  other  hand  insisted,  that 
the  Nova  Scotia  secured  to  Great  Britain  by  the  Utrecht  treaty, 
was  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  province  of  Acadie,  which  was 
declared  by  them,  to  be  only  a  small  strip  of  land  on  the  south 
west  side  of  the  Peninsula  so  called;  and  that  the  remainder  of 
the  territory  claimed  by  the  British,  was  either  comprised  in 
Canada,  or  belonged  to  Indian  nations  in  alliance  with,  and  under 
the  protection  of  France.  In  support  of  these  extreme  preten*-  » 
sions,  which  were  maintained  without  any  signs  of  concession  by 
each  party,  many  long  memorials  were  presented,  accompanied 
by  numerous  documents  and  maps,  affording  together,  undeniable 
evidence  of  the  learning,  labor  and  ingenuity  of  the  Commissa 
ries,  who  in  fact  exhausted  their  subject.*  The  question  at  issue 

*The  proceedings  of  these  Commissaries  fill  four  large  quarto  volumes,  pub 
lished  at  Paris  between  1751  and  1756,  under  the  title  of—"  Memoires  des  Com- 
missaires  du  Roi,  et  de  ceux  de  Sa  Majeste  Britannique,  sur  les  possessions  et 
les  clroits  respectifs,  des  deux  couronnes  en  Amerique" — forming  together  one 
of  the  most  valuable  collections  of  documents  yet  made,  relative  to  the  early 
history  of  North  America. 


470          EFFORTS   OF  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   IN  AMERICA.      [1752. 

nevertheless  seemed  as  far  from  a  decision,  at  the  end  of  the  first 
vear  of  the  discussion,  as  at  its  commencement;  nothing  being 
proved,  except  the  entire  absence  of  all  right  on  the  part  of  either 
nation,  to  the  possession  of  more  than  a  few  small  points  in  the 
disputed  region,  agreeably  to  any  admitted  rule  of  conduct  in 
stich  cases.  Other  questions  respecting  the  islands  of  St.  Lucie 
and  Tobago  were  then  submitted  to  the  Commissaries,  and  were 
treated  in  the  same  way,  and  with  no  more  definite  results;  and 
after  two  years  passed  in  these  futile  investigations,  the  attempt 
to  insure  the  continuance  of  peace  by  that  means  was  abandoned. 
While  these  discussions  were  in  progress  at  Paris,  affairs  were 
proceeding  rapidly  in  America  to  a  crisis.  The  English  traders 
and  settlers  were  boldly  advancing  into  the  interior  of  the  Conti 
nent;  and  the  Governors  of  the  French  provinces  were  actively 
engaged  in  adopting  every  possible  means  to  arrest  them,  espe 
cially  by  exciting  the  Indians  to  make  war  upon  the  daring  in 
truders.  The  English  fort  at  Oswego  was  the  particular  object 
of  the  jealousy  of  the  French,  and  their  missionaries  among  the 
Iroquois  labored  diligently,  to  effect  a  union  of  those  nations 
for  its  destruction;*  while  the  English  were  no  less  anxious  to 
procure  the  expulsion  of  their  rivals  from  Fort  St.  Frederic  or 
Crown  Point,  where  Lake  Champlain  expands  into  a  broad  sheet 
of  water,  about  ninety  miles  .from  Albany.  On  the  Ohio,  the 
English  were  daily  gaining  ground,  and  one  of  the  agents  of  the 
Ohio  company,  Mr.  Gist,  had  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Miami 
river;  through  his  efforts  the  Twittoweef  or  Miami  Indians,  had 
been  induced  to  attack  the  French  settlements  on  the  Wabash, 

*  The  most  active  and  zealous  of  the  French  missionaries  engaged  in  this  pious 
work,  was  the  Abbe  Francois  Picquet,  of  whom  a  curious  biographical  memoir, 
read  by  M.  de  la  Lande  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  may  be  found 
in  the  Lettres  Edifiantes.  In  it  is  an  extract  from  the  instructions  of  the  Minis 
ter  of  Marine  M.  Rouille  to  the  Abbe,  to  impress  upon  the  Indians,  "that  the 
only  means  of  relieving  themselves  from  the  pretensions  of  the  English  to  the 
possession  of  their  territories,  is  to  destroy  Oswego,  so  as  to  deprive  them  of  a 
post,  which  was  established  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  restraining  the  Iroquois." 
The  Abbe  displayed  great  talent  and  boldness  in  his  endeavors  to  comply  with 
these  instructions;  but  fortunately  for  the  English,  he  was  not  seconded  by  the 
Commandants  of  the  French  garrisons,  between  whom  and  the  missionaries  there 
was  a  mutual  repulsion,  preventing  all  cordial  co-operation. 

f  This  name  is  said  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  cry  or  whistle  of  the  plover.  It 
is  usually  written  T~"ightee,  and  sometimes  T\vixtee. 


1752.] 


PLANS    OF    THE    FRENCH    IN    AMERICA. 


471 


and  the  flame  had  extended  to  the  Illinois,  where  a  plan  was 
formed  in  1751  for  the  extermination  of  the  Europeans,  which 
was  only  frustrated  by  the  energy  of  the  French  Commandant,  an 
Irishman  named  MacCarty.  Farther  south,  the  Chickasas  again 
took  up  the  hatchet,  and  interrupted  the  communications  between 
the  upper  and  the  lower  Mississippi;  and  a  large  French  force 
was  again  assembled  at  the  Chickasa  Bluffs,  with  the  hope  of 
overwhelming  these  irreconcilable  foes.  Vaudreuil,  however) 
on  this  occasion  gained  no  more  glory  than  Bienville  had  reaped 
from  his  expeditions  :  he  marched  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Chickasa  towns  in  the  summer  of  1752 ;  but  each  village  was 
found,  as  before,  strongly  fortified,  through  the  exertions  of  the 
British  traders,  and  the  French  were  obliged  to  return,  without 
having  ventured  to  attack  any  one  of  them. 

The  French  Government  had  in  fact,  by  this  time,  arrived  at 
the  conclusion,  that  the  overthrow  of  the  authority  of  Great  Britain 
in  America  and  in  India,  was  indispensable  to  the  security  of  its 
own  dominion  in  those  parts  of  the  world;  and  plans  had  been 
devised  with  that  object,  which  might  have  been  considered  wise 
and  provident,  had  the  power  and  resources  of  France,  equalled 
the  estimates  of  her  statesmen  and  commanders  with  regard  to 
them.  The  first  great  measure  embraced  in  this  plan,  respecting 
America,  was  the  establishment  of  a  connection  between  the 
provinces  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  those  of  the  Mississippi,  by 
the  effective  occupation  of  all  the  strong  points  in  those  countries^ 
a  measure  which  had  been  indeed  contemplated,  ever  since  the 
settlement  of  Louisiana,  and  the  execution  of  which  the  English 
had  as  constantly  labored  to  prevent.  For  the  success  of  this 
plan,  facilities  were  offered  by  the  position  of  the  great  interior 
waters  of  that  part  of  America,  most  favorable  for  intercourse  be 
tween  the  French  possessions;  while  the  English,  in  order  to 
reach  any  one  of  them,  would  be  obliged  to  traverse  lofty  moun 
tains  and  dense  forests,  presenting  impediments  almost  insur 
mountable  to  the  march  of  large  bodies  of  troops,  with  their  ne 
cessary  arms,  ammunition  and  provisions.  The  completion  of 
such  a  system  of  fortified  posts  would,  it  was  hoped  by  the  French, 
place  the  provinces  of  their  rivals  at  their  mercy,  or  at  least  arrest 
the  advance  of  the  settlements  of  that  people,  which  would  thus 
be  exposed  to  attack  in  all  directions.  With  the  exception  of 


472       POPULATION   OF   ENGLISH   AND  FRENCH   COLONIES.       [1753. 

Oswego,  the  French  had  all  the  principal  points  on  the  waters  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  namely  Frontenac,  Niagara,  Presqu'ile,  Detroit, 
and  Mackinac,  between  which  and  the  Mississippi,  the  only  im 
portant  spot  remaining  to  be  occupied  by  them,  was  at  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  Monongahela  and  Alleghany  rivers,  called  by  the 
English  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio,  where  the  flourishing  city  of  Pitts- 
burg  now  stands. 

The  Briiish  Government  was,  probably,  by  no  means  equally 
anxious  to  expel  the  French  from  the  North  American  Continent, 
where  they  might  serve  as  a  check  upon  the  tendencies  to  inde 
pendence,  which  had  so  unequivocally  manifested  themselves 
among  the  English  colonies;  and  His  Christian  Majesty  might 
probably  been  suffered  to  retain  his  dominions  on  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  the  Mississippi,  so  long  as  he  should  riot  overstep  the 
bounds,  within  which  the  dignity  of  Great  Britain  required  that 
he  should  be  restrained.  But  the  people  of  the  British  American 
colonies  were  not  content  with  any  restrictions  upon  their  advance 
into  the  interior  of  the  Continent:  wherever  good  land  was  tp  be 
found,  they  then,  as  now,  claimed  the  right  of  settling  and  of  es 
tablishing  their  own  customs  and  laws,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
others;  and  it  must  have  been  evident  to  their  rulers,  that  any 
attempt  to  curb  this  disposition,  would  prove  vain,  if  not  perilous 
to  the  subsistence  of  the  authority  of  the  mother  country. 

The  English  colonies  at  that  time  contained  at  least  a  million 
of  inhabitants  of  pure  European  race,  while  the  whole  number  of 
French  subjects,  in  New  France  and  Louisiana,  was  less  than 
fifty  thousand:  the  French  were  however  always  the  superior  in 
numbers  of  regular  forces,  which  had  been  then  recently  increased 
to  perhaps  ten  thousand,  and  their  militia  were  well  trained  and 
equipped  for  war.  The  jealousy  prevailing  between  the  different 
English  provinces,  each  regarding  itself  almost  as  an  independent 
State,  moreover  rendered  concert  among  them,  for  any  object 
except  opposition  to  the  mother  country,  extremely  difficult,  if 
not  impossible:  their  legislative  assembles  could  rarely  be  in 
duced  to  appropriate  funds  for  defence;  and  their  militia,  unless 
supported  by  large  bodies  of  regulars,  were  generally  tardy  and 
wasteful,  to  a  degree  which  seriously  impaired  their  efficiency. 
It  is  nevertheless  difficult  at  the  present  day  to  comprehend,  either 
the  expectations  of  the  French,  or  the  fears  of  the  English.  Con- 


1753.]       KERLEREC  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA.          473 

tinents  are  to  be  overspread  with  population,  by  industry  and 
perseverance  in  the  quiet  pursuits  of  life,  for  which  armies  and 
fortifications  are  only  useful  as  protections;  and  the  French,  ever 
under  the  influence  of  the  military  spirit,  had  already  proved  be 
yond  all  possibility  of  doubt,  their  vast  inferiority  as  colonizers 
to  the  English,  who  never  drew  the  sword  unless  it  was  absolutely 
necessary,  to  defend  their  ploughs,  looms  and  anvils. 

The  particulars  of  the  plan  for  connecting  Canada  and  Louis 
iana  by  colonies  and  forts,  appear  to  have  been  suggested  by 
Vaudreuil,  who  made  many  communications  to  the  French  min 
isters  on  the  subject ;  and  in  order  that  he  might  farther  unfold 
his  views,  he  was  summoned  to  Paris,  where  he  arrived  in  the 
spring  of  1753,  having  resigned  the  government  of  Louisiana  on 
the  9th  of  February,  to  M.  de  Kerlerec  a  captain  in  the  royal 
navy.  M.  de  la  Jonquiere  had  in  the  meantime  succeeded  La 
Galissoniere,  as  Governor  General  of  New  France;  and  upon  his 
death,  in  March,  1752,  the  Marquis  de  Duquesne  was  appointed 
to  that  important  situation.  He  immediately  increased  the  forces 
in  the  Ohio  countries,  which  were  placed  under  the  command  of 
M.  Legardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  an  old  and  experienced  officer;  and 
he  made  preparations  for  farther  establishments  in  those  regions, 
all  of  which  above  the  Wabash,  had  been  declared  within  the 
limits  of  his  province,  agreeably  to  the  line  of  separation  recently 
established  between  Canada  and  Louisiana,  extending  from  the 
head  waters  of  the  latter  stream  north-westward  to  the  Mississippi 
at  the  mouth  of  Rock  river. 

These  proceedings  of  the  French  in  the  Ohio  territories,  soon 
became  known  in  New  York,  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  where 
they  excited  some  alarm  and  much  indignation.  Representations 
were  made  to  the  ministers  at  London,  who  in  consequence  sent 
orders  to  the  Governors  of  those  provinces,  to  take  measures  in 
concert  for  defence  against  these  hostile  invasions;  \vhile  the 
colonies  were  themselves  urged  to  unite  for  the  same  common 
purpose.  Funds  were  moreover  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  within  whose  jurisdiction  the  countries  of 
the  Ohio  were  considered  as  lying,  in  order  to  enable  him  to 
raise  troops  and  build  forts,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  British 
dominion  in  that  quarter,  where  it  appeared  to  be  most  seriously 
menaced  by  the  French. 
60* 


474          CLAIM    OF    VIRGINIA    TO    THE    OHIO    COUNTRIES.       [1753. 

The  claim  of  Virginia  to  the  Ohio  countries  was  founded  upon 
the  terms  of  the  second  and  third  charters  granted  to  the  Virginia 
Company  by  James  I.  in  1609  and  1612;  agreeably  to  which,  it 
embraced  the  coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  northward  and  southward 
from  Point  Comfort  at  the  mouth  of  James  river,  to  the  distance 
of  two  hundred  miles  in  each  direction,  and  the  whole  territory 
thence  extending  across  the  Continent,  "west  and  north-west," 
to  the  Pacific.*  The  coast  thus  described,  comprehended  nearly 
the  whole  line  from  Cape  Fear  to  the  entrance  of  New  York  bay; 
and  the  territory  stretching  westward  from  that  line  included  nearly 
the  whole  course  of  the  Ohio  proper — that  is  to  say,  below  the 
junction  of  its  two  great  branches  the  Alleghany  and  the  Monon- 
gahela;  while  a  line  drawn  north-westward  from  the  northernmost 
point  on  the  coast  granted,  would  have  placed  in  Virginia,  all  the 
countries  drained  by  the  Ohio,  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  the  Mis 
souri,  and  by  all  the  streams  falling  into  Lakes  Erie,  Huron, 
Michigan,  and  Superior  from  the  south  and  west.  This  latter 
construction  of  its  boundaries  was  maintained  by  Virginia,  except 
with  regard  to  the  portions  of  its  original  grant,  which  had  been 
assigned  by  charters  from  the  crown,  to  Maryland,  Pennsylvania 
and  Carolina ;  and  these  portions  comprehended  all  south  of  the 
latitude  of  36  degrees  30  minutes,  and  all  north  of  the  Potomac, 
and  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  that  river  eastward  to  the 
Atlantic,  together  with  such  other  territory  on  the  north  as  might 
be  ascertained  to  belong  to  Pennsylvania,  which  was  to  extend 
through  five  degrees  of  longitude,  eastward  from  the  Delaware. 

The  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio,  on  which  the  French  had  estab 
lished  themselves,  were  included  in  the  last  mentioned  territory, 
then  in  question  between  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania;  and  were 
moreover  claimed  by  other  provinces,  on  grounds  which  it  is  un- 

* "All  those  lands,  countries,  and  territories,  situate,  lying  and  being  in 

that  part  of  America  called  Virginia,  from  the  point  of  land  called  Cape  or  Point 
Comfort,  all  along  the  sea  coast  to  the  northward  two  hundred  miles,  and  from 
the  said  point  of  Cape  Comfort,  all  along  the  sea  coast,  to  the  southward  two 
hundred  miles,  and  all  that  space  and  circuit  of  land,  lying  from  the  sea  coast 
of  the  precinct  aforesaid,  up  into  the  land,  throughout  from  sea  to  sea,  west  and 
north-west,  and  also  all  the  islands  lying  within  one  hundred  miles  along  the 
coast  of  both  seas  of  the  precinct  aforesaid." 

These  are  the  words  of  the  second  charter,  recited  in  the  third,  which  was 
granted  in  1712.  Both  documents  may  be  found  at  length  in  Stith's  History  of 
Virginia  and  in  Hening's  Statutes  of  Virginia. 


1753.]     WASHINGTON'S  MISSION  TO  THE   UPPER  OHIO.         475 

necessary  here  to  explain.  The  French  Government  founded  its 
pretensions  to  those  regions,  upon  first  discovery  and  occupation  ; 
supporting  them,  sometimes  by  reference  to  the  charter  of  Louis 
XIV.  to  Crozat  in  1713,  and  the  decree  annexing  the  Illinois  to 
Louisiana  in  1718,  in  which  the  whole  division  of  America  drain 
ed  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  is  declared  to  be  included 
in  that  French  province;  while  it  was  asserted  on  other  occasions, 
that  the  countries  of  the  Ohio  had  always  formed  part  of  Canada, 
and  on  others  again,  that  they  belonged  to  the  Indian  confederacy 
of  the  Iroquois  under  the  protection  of  tlie  French. 

The  Virginians  however  had  no  doubt  of  the  sufficiency  of  their 
title  to  the  Ohio  countries;  and  their  Governor,  Mr.  Dinwiddie, 
in  order  to  learn  the  objects  and  strength  of  the  French  in  that 
quarter,  commissioned  George  Washington,  then  a  major  in  the 
provincial  militia,  though  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  to  proceed 
thither  with  a  letter  to  the  French  commandant,  inquiring  by 
what  right  he  appeared  in  arms,  in  the  terjitories  of  the  British 
King.  In  performance  of  this  duty,  the  young  envoy,  accompa 
nied  by  a  few  men,  proceeded  from  Williamsburg  the  capital  of 
Virginia,  by  way  of  Alexandria,  Winchester  and  Wills'  Creek, 
(now  Cumberland  in  Maryland,)  to  the  foot  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains;  and  crossing  that  range  in  November,  1753,  he  reach 
ed  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio,  the  importance  of  which,  he  after  a 
careful  examination,  fully  appreciated.  Thence  he  went  up  the 
valley  of  the  Alleghany  to  Venango,  where  he  found  the  first 
French  post,  commanded  by  Captain  Joncaire;  and  after  a  short 
stay,  during  which  they  were  well  treated,  the  Virginians  con 
tinued  their  journey  northward  to  Fort  Le  Boeuf,  the  head  quar 
ters  of  the  Chevalier  de  St.  Pierre,  the  commandant  of  the  upper 
Ohio,  to  whom  Washington  delivered  the  letter  from  Governor 
Dinwiddie.  To  the  question  propounded  in  this  letter,  the  com 
mandant  only  answered,  that  he  had  been  sent  by  the  Governor 
General  of  New  France,  to  establish  and  maintain  the  authority 
of  their  sovereign  over  those  countries,  which  belonged  of  right 
to  France,  and  to  seize  every  person  of  any  other  nation  who 
should  attempt  to  trade  on  the  Ohio  or  its  waters ;  and  that  it  was 
his  intention  scrupulously  to  execute  this  commission.  As  to  the 
origin  and  base  of  the  right  thus  assumed,  Washington  could 
only  learn,  that  it  was  derived  "from  a  discovery  made  by  one 


476    THE  FRENCH   SEND  REINFORCEMENTS  TO  THE   OHIO.    [1754. 

La  Salle  sixty  years  ago;"  and  as  he  could  produce  no  better 
title  himself,  and  his  object  was  rather  to  observe  than  to  discuss, 
he  returned  to  Williamsburg,  carrying  with  him  a  mass  of  valua 
ble  information,  relative  to  the  posts,  the  forces  arid  the  views  of 
the  French,  which  was  soon  after  published  in  the  form  of  a  jour 
nal,  and  has  since  been  often  reprinted.* 

Accounts  of  Washington's  visit  to  Fort  Le  Bceuf,  were  imme 
diately  despatched  to  the  Governor  General  at  Quebec,  who  there 
upon  sent  M.  Pecaudy  de  Contrecoeur  with  a  large  body  of  rein 
forcements,  to  take  the  Command  on  the  Ohio.  This  officer  on 
reaching  Venango,  learned  that  the  English  were  already  engaged 
in  building  a  fort  at  the  Forks  of  the  river;  and  considering  it 
important  to  arrest  these  operations  at  once,  he  proceeded  to  that 
point,  where  he  found  about  fifty  Virginians  under  Captain  Trent, 
who  had  been  sent  by  Dinwiddie  to  occupy  the  place  upon  the 
recommendation  of  Washington,  and  who  retired  on  the  first 
summons  from  the  French.  Contrecoeur  being  satisfied  of  the 
great  advantages  of  the  position — unsurpassed  indeed,  in  many 
advantageous  respects,  by  any  other  in  the  interior  of  America — 
commenced  a  large  work  at  the  point  of  the  junction  of  the  two 
streams,  which  was  named  Fort  Duquesne  in  honor  of  the  Gov 
ernor  General  of  New  France. 

The  news  of  these  proceedings  of  the  French  on  the  Ohio, 
were  soon  carried  through  the  British  colonies;  and  a  convention 
or  Congress  of  delegates  from  nearly  all  those  north  of  the  Poto 
mac,  was  assembled  at  Albany,  to  which  the  principal  chiefs  of 
the  Six  Nations  also  repaired  in  June.  Treaties  were  made 
between  the  parties,  on  terms  calculated  to  secure  the  attachment 
of  the  savages;  and  this  business  being  despatched,  propositions 
were  presented  by  Benjamin  Franklin  one  of  the  delegates  from 

*"The  Journal  of  Major  George  Washington,  &c. :"  London,  1753. — It  may 
be  found  in  Marshall's  "Life  of  Washington"  and  in  the  second  volume  of 
Sparks'  "Life  and  Writings  of  Washington,"  which  contains  many  other  docu 
ments  relative  to  the  events  of  Washington's  early  military  proceedings. 

Farther  information  on  these  and  other  circumstances,  which  led  to  the  war 
hetween  England  and  France,  is  communicated  in  a  work  published  by  the  French 
Government  at  Paris  in  1756,  entitled — "  Mcmoire,  contcnant  le  precis  des  faits, 
avec  leurs  pieces  justificatives,  pour  servir  de  reponse  aux  observations  envoyi-es 
par  les  ministres  Anglais,  dans  les  cours  de  1'Europe" — which  was  translated  and 
printed  in  English  at  New  York  in  the  following  year,  as  "  A  Memoir  in  answei 
to  the  observations  sent  by  the  English  Ministry  to  the  Courts  of  Europe." 


1754.]      CONVENTION  OR  CONGRESS  AT  ALBANY.         477 

Pennsylvania,  for  a  union  of  all  the  colonies  under  a  General 
Government,  consisting  of  a  legislative  body  elected  by  the 
colonies,  and  an  executive  President  appointed  by  the  crown : 
the  acts  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  were  to  have  the  as 
sent  of  the  sovereign  in  order  to  render  them  valid;  while  the 
officers  and  agents  of  the  President,  should  receive  the  approval 
of  the  legislature,  before  entering  upon  the  performance  of  their 
functions.  This  plan,  in  which  may  be  seen  the  rudiments  of 
the  Federal  constitution,  adopted  thirty-five  years  afterwards  for 
the  union  of  the  same  colonies  as  free  and  independent  States, 
was  at  once  rejected  by  the  provinces  and  by  the  mother  country ; 
the  latter  refusing  to  concede  the  powers  claimed  for  the  General 
Legislature,  while  the  colonies  were  equally  opposed  to  those 
which  would  be  conferred  upon  the  representative  of  the  crown. 

In  the  meantime  important  events  had  occurred  on  the  Ohio. 
The  French  were  actively  engaged  in  the  construction  of  their 
Fort  Duquesne  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1754,  when  they  received 
news  that  a  large  number  of  English  soldiers  from  Virginia,  had 
crossed  the  mountains,  and  were  marching  towards  them.  In 
order  to  ascertain  the  strength  and  objects  of  this  body,  Contre- 
coeur  detached  M.  Villiers  de  Jumonville,  a'  young  ensign,  of  a 
family  already  distinguished  for  courage  and  enterprise,  with 
thirty-five  men,  to  make  observations;  instructing  him,  in  case 
he  should  meet  the  English,  to  read  to  them  a  formal  summons, 
of  which  he  was  the  bearer,  to  quit  those  territories  under  pain  of 
being  obliged  to  do  so  by  force. 

The  English,  of  whose  approach  news  had  been  thus  brought 
to  Fort  Duquesne,  were  about  three  hundred  Virginians,  com 
manded  by  Washington,  as  Lieutenant  Colonel.  They  had  been 
raised  and  equipped  by  order  of  the  Governor,  under  an  act  from 
the  legislature  of  the  Province,  appropriating  ten  thousand  pounds 
for  the  defence  of  the  Ohio;  and  their  commander  having  learned 
on  the  way,  the  fact  of  the  expulsion  of  Trent  and  his  men  from, 
the  Forks  of  the  river,  and  the  occupation  of  that  important  spot 
by  the  French,  was  hastening  to  take  another  position  on  the 
Monongahela,  thirty-seven  miles  from  Fort  Duquesne,  where  the 
town  of  Brownsville  in  Pennsylvania  is  now  situated.  Soon  after 
crossing  the  Alleghany  mountains,  Washington  was  informed  by 
some  Indians,  that  a  party  of  French  were  in  his  vicinity;  and 


478  DEATH    OF    M.    DE    JUMONVILLE.  [1754. 

being  unable  to  ascertain  their  numbers,  he  threw  up  an  entrench 
ment  at  a  place  called  the  Great  Meadows,  near  the  present  town 
of  Union  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  left  his  bag 
gage  and  all  his  men,  except  forty  with  whom  he  marched  ahead 
accompanied  by  some  Indians,  in  search  of  the  enemy. 

The  French  whom  Washington  went  to  meet,  were  Jumonville 
and  his  thirty-four  men.  They  were  found  by  the  Virginians 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  May,  in  an  obscure  hollow, 
where  they  had  encamped  during  the  previous  night;  and  Wash 
ington  having  surrounded  their  position,  so  as  to  close  every  ave 
nue  for  escape,  attacked  them  on  all  sides  at  the  same  moment. 
Thus  surprised,  the  French  could  make  no  effectual  resistance: 
Jumonville  and  nine  of  his  men  were  immediately  killed ;  one  or 
two  then  escaped,  and  the  remainder  after  firing  a  few  shots,  laid 
down  their  arms.  The  Indians,  as  usual,  tore  off  the  scalps  from 
the  dead,  which  were  sent  with  presents  to  the  tribes  farther  north ; 
the  prisoners  were  despatched  under  guard  to  Williamsburg. 
Upon  the  person  of  Jumonville  were  found  the  instructions  and 
the  summons  given  to  him  by  Contrecoeur,  both  serving  to  show, 
that  the  intentions  of  the  French  were  not  directly  hostile;  and  the 
same  views  were  confirmed  by  the  declarations  of  the  prisoners. 
Yet  Washington  seemed,  from  the  terms  of  his  letter  to  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  not  to  have  had  any  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  his 
own  conduct  in  the  attack;  unless  indeed  they  might  be  inferred 
from  the  remarkable  conciseness  of  his  account  of  the  action — the 
first  in  which  he  was  ever  engaged — and  the  length  of  his  argu 
ments,  in  demonstration  of  the  evil  designs  of  the  French.* 

*  The  only  original  reports  of  these  circumstances,  are  to  be  found  in  the  des 
patches  of  Washington  to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  and  of  Contrecoeur  to  the  Mar 
quis  Duquesne.  Washington's  account  of  the  action  with  Jumonville  is  all  em 
braced  in  these  few  words : 

"  When  we  came  to  the  place  where  the  tracks  were,  the  [Indian]  Half-king 
sent  two  Indians  to  follow  their  tracks  and  discern  their  lodgement,  which  they 
did,  at  half  a  mile  from  the  road,  in  a  very  obscure  place,  surrounded  with  rocks. 
I  thereupon,  in  conjunction  with  the  Half-king  and  Monacawacha,  formed  a 
disposition  to  attack  them  on  all  sides,  which  we  accordingly  did;  and  after  an 
engagement  of  about  fifteen  minutes,  we  killed  ten,  wounded  one,  and  took 
twenty-one  prisoners.  Amongst  the  killed,  was  M.  de  Jumonville  the  com 
mander." — Sparks'  Life  and  Writings  of  Washington,  vol.  2,  page  32. 

Contrecoiur  thus  relates  the  particulars  as  derived  from  one  of  Jumonville's 
men  who  escaped :  "  One  of  that  party,  Monceau  by  name,  a  Canadian,  made  his 


1754.]      DE    YILLIERS    MARCHES    AGAINST    WASHINGTON.         479 

Accounts  of  the  death  of  Jumonville  and  the  capture  of  his 
party,  were  carried  to  Fort  Duquesne,  by  one  of  the  men  who 
escaped.  They  excited  the  utmost  indignation ;  and  Contrecoeur 
immediately  ordered  M.  Le  Mercier,  his  second  officer,  to  pro 
ceed  with  five  hundred  soldiers,  and  chastise  the  intruders  upon 
the  territories  claimed  by  their  sovereign.  Ere  Le  Mercier  could 
set  out,  M.  de  Villiers,  the  elder  brother  of  Jumonville,  arrived 
from  the  Illinois,  and  claimed  the  command;  which  being  assign 
ed  to  him,  he  quitted  the  fort  on  the  29th  of  June,  and  on  the 
3rd  of  the  following  month  reached  the  Great  Meadows,  where 
Washington  had  thrown  up  an  entrenchment,  named  by  him  Fort 
Necessity.  The  Virginians  immediately  advanced  from  their 
lines,  and  a  battle  was  begun,  which  continued  throughout  the 
day,  though  rather  languidly ;  as  the  French  exhibited  no  dispo 
sition  to  leave  their  cover  in  the  wood,  and  Washington  did  not 
attempt  an  attack,  probably  from  want  of  confidence  in  his  men, 
who  were  all  raw  volunteers,  and  inferior  in  numbers  and  equip 
ment  to  their  opponents.  At  night,  Villiers  proposed  a  parley; 
and  this  being  accepted,  he  offered  terms  of  capitulation,  to  which 

escape,  and  tells  us  that  they  had  built  themselves  cabins,  in  a  low  bottom,  where 
they  sheltered  themselves,  as  it  rained  hard.  About  seven  o'clock  on  the  next 
morning,  they  saw  themselves  surrounded  by  the  English  on  one  side,  and  by  In 
dians  on  the  other;  the  English  gave  them  two  volleys, but  the  Indians  did  not  fire. 
M.  de  Jumonville  by  his  interpreter,  told  them  to  desist,  as  he  had  something  to 
say  to  them;  upon  which  they  ceased  firing.  M.  de  Jumonville  then  ordered  the 
summons,  which  I  had  sent  them  to  retire,  to  be  read,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  send  you.  The  said  Monceau  saw  all  the  French  coming  close  around 
M.  de  Jumonville,  whilst  the  summons  was  read  ;  so  that  they  were  all  in  pla 
toons,  between  the  English  arid  the  Indians,  and  in  the  meantime,  Monceau  made 
the  best  of  his  way  to  us.  *  *  *  The  Indians  who  were  present  when  the 
thing  was  done,  say  that  M.  de  Jumonville  was  killed  by  a  musket  shot  in  the 
head,  while  they  were  reading  the  summons,  &c." — See  the  Memoir  published 
by  the  French  Government  in  1755,  as  mentioned  in  the  note  on  page  475. 

The  two  accounts  do  not  differ  in  any  material  point;  and  they  both  show 
clearly,  that  the  French  were  surprised,  surrounded,  and  attacked  by  Washing 
ton,  ere  they  could  prepare  to  fight  or  to  explain  their  objects. 

It  is  strange  that  with  these  documents  before  them — the  authenticity  at  least 
of  which  could  not  be  doubted — the  circumstances  of  this  affair  should  have 
been  so  frequently  misstated  by  historians.  What  are  we  to  say,  for  instance, 
to  the  following  extract,  from  the  Life  of  Washington,  by  great  and  good  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  as  revised,  corrected  and  published  by  the  author  in  1833,  vol. 
1,  page  4: — "  At  day-break,  his  [Washington's]  troops  fired  and  rushed  upon  the 
party,  which  immediately  surrendered.  One  man  only  escaped  capture;  and 
J\J.  Jumonville  atone,  the  commanding  officer  was  killed." 


480  REFLECTIONS     ON    WASHINGTON'S     CONDUCT.  [1754. 

Washington,  after  many  alterations  had  been  made  in  them,  final 
ly  agreed.  The  Virginians  were  allowed  to  evacuate  the  place 
with  all  their  arms  and  munitions  of  war  except  artillery,  on  con 
dition  that  they  should  retire  beyond  the  Alleghany  mountains, 
and  that  the  prisoners  taken  by  them  should  be  restored;  it  being 
expressly  stated  in  the  articles,  which  were  drawn  up  in  French, 
and  imperfectly  explained  to  Washington  by  a  Dutch  interpreter, 
that  the  principal  object  of  the  French  was  to  avenge  the  assas 
sination  of  Jumonville.* 

Such  were  the  circumstances  which  led  directly  to  the  celebra 
ted  struggle  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  for  dominion  in 
North  America.  The  commander  of  the  Virginians  was  the  same 
George  Washington  whose  death  'forty-five  years  later,  was 
mourned  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  as  a  loss  to  humanity; 
whose  statue,  erected  long  afterwards  by  the  universal  assent  of  a 
grateful  nation,  bears  the  inscriptions,  no  less  true  than  beautiful — 

"First  in  war,  First  in  peace,  First  in  the  hearts  of  his  Countrymen." 

9 
The  incomparable  manner  in  which  Washington  discharged  his 

subsequent  trusts,  the  highest  ever  confided  to  man,  renders  it  the 
desire,  and  indeed  the  duty  of  those  who  relate  the  circumstances 
of  his  attack  upon  Jumonville,  to  defend  his  conduct  as  far  as  the 
principles  of  right  will  allow:  yet  youth,  inexperience,  and  the 
prejudices  of  early  life — prejudices  which  he  soon  abandoned — 
are  the  only  grounds  of  excuse  for  that  conduct.  France  and 
England  were  then  in  peace,  and  engaged  in  discussions  for  the 
determination  of  their  rights,  to  the  territory  in  which  the  attack 
was  made.  Jumonville  bore  instructions  from  his  Government, 

•Washington,  many  years  afterwards,  addressed  a  letter  to  a  friend  with  re 
gard  to  the  French  accounts  of  this  affair,  which  may  be  found,  though  without 
date  or  address,  in  the  Appendix  to  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington*  published 
in  1833,  vol.  1,  page  12.  He  therein  says: — 

"That  we  v/ere  wilfully  or  ignorantly  deceived  by  our  interpreter,  in  regard 
to  the  word  assassination  I  do  aver,  and  will  to  my  dying  moment;  so  will  every 
officer  that  was  present.  The  interpreter  was  a  Dutchman,  little  acquainted 
with  the  English  tongue,  and  therefore  might  not  advert  to  the  tone  and  mean 
ing  of  the  word  in  English;  but  whatever  were  his  motives  for  so  doing,  certain 
it  is,  he  called  it  the  death,  or  the  loss  of  the  Sieur  de  Jumonville." 

Washington  made  no  farther  allusion  to  the  circumstances  of  the  death  of 
Jumonville,  in  this  letter,  or  on  any  other  occasion,  so  far  as  is  known,  subse 
quent  to  the  date  of  his  account  of  that  action  transmitted  to  Dinwiddie. 


1754.]          ENGLAND    AND    FRANCE    PREPARE    FOR    WAR.  481 

to  give  warning,  but  not  to  commence  hostilities,  for  which  his 
force  was  clearly  inadequate.  Washington  was  ignorant  of  the 
nature  of  these  instructions,  and  he  says  that  he  regarded  the 
French  as  spies :  but  the  French  commander,  had  only  six  weeks 
previous,  demonstrated  his  desire  to  preserve  the  peace,  by  al 
lowing  Trent  and  his  men  to  retire  uninjured  from  their  position 
at  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio;  and  Washington  had  himself,  in  the 
preceding  winter,  been  received  and  treated  with  courtesy  by  the 
people  of  the  same  nation  at  Fort  Le  Bo3uf,  whither  he  had  gone, 
as  admitted  by  him,  with  the  object  of  obtaining  information. 
Finally — he  surprised  Jumonville  at  a  great  disadvantage  in 
amount  offeree  as  well  as  in  position;  and  humanity,  as  well  as 
generosity  required,  that  the  French  should  have  been  allowed  time 
to  explain  their  purposes,  while  prudence  and  policy  dictated  the 
same  course,  in  order  to  avoid  the  responsibility  of  breaking  the 
peace.  What  would  have  been  the  feeling  of  the  English  world, 
had  the  results  been  reversed — had  Jumonville  surprised  and  at 
tacked  the  Virginians,  and  killed  their  leader  and  more  than  a 
quarter  of  their  number,  under  similar  circumstances?  Of  Wash 
ington^  own  judgment  upon  the  subject,  in  after  life,  nothing  is 
known;  it  seems  however  scarcely  credible,  that  he  could  have 
regarded  his  proceedings  otherwise  than  with  regret. 

The  circumstances  above  related,  produced  a  strong  sensation 
throughout  Europe,  as  well  as  in  America ;  and  it  was  not  diffi 
cult  to  foresee  that  war  must  soon  be  renewed  between  France 
and  England.  The  French  regarded  the  death  of  Jumonville  as 
an  act  of  assassination ;  and  the  name  of  Washington  was  re 
peated  with  every  epithet  of  abhorrence  attached  to  it,  by  the 
poets,  historians  and  orators  of  Paris.  The  British  Government 
viewed  the  whole  proceeding  only  as  demonstrating  the  necessity 
of  employing  stronger  forces  on  the  Ohio ;  and  measures  were 
immediately  taken  for  the  purpose,  as  well  as  to  confirm  the 
friendship  of  the  dominant  Indian  nations  in  that  quarter.  Major 
General  Edward  Braddock  was  appointed  Commander-in-Chief 
of  all  the  British  forces  in  North  America,  and  was  instructed 
immediately  to  expel  the  French  from  the  Ohio,  and  from  all  the 
other  countries  farther  east,  lying  south  of  the  lakes  and  the  St.- 
Lawrence.  On  the  part  of  France,  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  was 
made  Governor  General  of  Canada,  in  place  of  Du  Quesne;  and 
61 


482  LAST    NEGOTIATIONS    AT    LONDON.  [1755. 

he  was  employed  in  superintending  the  equipment  of  a  large  body 
of  troops,  who  were  to  sail  in  the  ensuing  spring,  with  the  object 
of  securing  the  possession  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  Iroquois  countries 
and  the  Ohio. 

At  the  same  time  also,  in  order  to  divert  the  attention  of  the 
British,  and  to  arrest  as  far  as  possible  their  preparations  for  war 
until  the  armament  under  Vaudreuil  should  have  arrived  in  Cana 
da,  the  French  Government  proposed  through  the  Duke  de  Mire- 
poix,  its  Ambassador  at  London — that  the  question  as  to  the  pos 
session  of  the  Ohio  regions  should  be  submitted  to  the  Commis 
saries  who  were  still  employed,  nominally  at  least,  at  Paris;  and 
that  until  these  questions  should  have  been  determined,  the  coun 
tries  traversed  by  that  river,  should  be  restored  to  the  condition 
in  which  they  were  before  the  peace  of  Aix  la  Chapelle.  The 
British  ministers,  having  a  similar  reason  for  not  wishing  to  com 
mence  hostilities  immediately,  accepted  the  offer  of  negotiation, 
and  proposed  in  answer — that  the  condition  of  things  at  the  time 
of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  should  be  assumed  as  the  basis  ;  but  this 
was  refused  by  the  French,  on  the  grounds — that  the  Utrecht  treaty 
did  not  in  any  way  relate  or  allude  to  the  Ohio,  and  that  the 
British  neither  held  nor  claimed  any  part  of  that  river,  before  the 
late  peace.  The  British  ministers,  in  reply,  insisted — that  the  Ohio 
was  comprised  in  the  territory  of  the  Six  Nations,  which  was 
secured  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht;  and  a  correspondence 
ensued,  in  which  each  Government  developed  and  supported  its 
owrn  views,  as  to  the  interpretation  of  that  treaty,  not  only  with 
regard  to  the  Ohio  regions,  but  to  all  other  portions  of  America 
in  question  between  them.\  The  French  distinctly  claimed  the 
whole  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  great  lakes,  and  all  the  coun 
tries  drained  by  streams  falling  into  them,  as  having  always 
formed  parts  of  Canada;  as  well  as  the  Ohio  countries,  on  the 
ground  of  their  having  been  first  discovered,  first  explored,  and 
first  occupied  by  French  subjects,  and  of  the  absolute  necessity 
of  the  river,  as  a  means  of  communication  between  their  different 
possessions.  The  British  on  the  other  hand,  adduced  the  words 
of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  recognizing  the  Five  Nations  as  subjects 
of  Great  Britain,  and  thereby  excluding  the  French  from  the 
countries  occupied  by  those  Indians,  which  extended,  according 
to  their  views,  southward  from  the  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  so 


1755.]  HOSTILITIES     CONTINUED    IN    AMERICA.    )  483 

far  as  to  embrace  all  the  Ohio  regions;  and  they  treated  as  absurd, 
the  claims  of  the  French  founded  on  discovery  and  occupation.* 

In  the  course  of  this  correspondence,  on  the  6th  of  February, 
1755,  the  French  Government  presented  a  projet  of  a  preliminary 
convention,  to  subsist  during  the  discussions  for  the  definitive 
settlement  of  the  questions  at  issue,  provided  they  should  not 
continue  longer  than  two  years,  according  to  which — the  terri 
tory  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Alleghany  mountains,  should  be 
evacuated  by  both  parties,  and  all  grants  of  lands  made  in  it  by 
either,  should  be  held  as  void,  all  other  things  relative  to  North 
America  being  meanwhile  restored  to  the  state,  in  which  they 
stood  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  To  this  the  British  in  a  few  days 
replied  by  a  counter-projet,  to  the  effect — that  all  forts  or  posts 
established  by  either  nation,  on  the  south  side  of  Lake  Erie  or 
on  the  Ohio,  should  be  evacuated  and  destroyed;  and  that  a  wide 
tract  of  territory,  extending  southwardly  from  the  western  half  of 
that  lake,  to  and  beyond  the  Ohio,  should  be  also  evacuated  by 
their  forces,  and  be  regarded  as  neutral  by  their  subjects,  \vho 
should  have  full  and  equal  liberty  of  trade  therein,  until  the  con 
clusion  of  the  discussions.  Neither  of  these  propositions  was 
accepted  by  the  party  to  which  it  was  addressed;  but  the  corres 
pondence  continued  without  any  appearance  of  concession  or 
prospect  of  compromise,  until  the  middle  of  1755. 

In  the  meantime,  the  French  fleet  had  sailed  from  Brest  with 
three  thousand  men,  under  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  as  Governor 
Genera],  and  the  Baron  de  Dieskau  as  commander  of  the  forces. 
It  was  followed  by  an  English  squadron  under  Boscawen,  who 
on  the  7th  of  June,  attacked  and  took  two  of  the  French  ships, 
with  several  companies  of  soldiers  on  board,  off  the  coast  of  New 
foundland.  The  remainder  of  the  French  fleet  reached  Quebec, 
where  the  troops  were  landed,  and  Dieskau  immediately  set  off 
with  two  thousand  of  them,  in  the  direction  of  Lake  Champlain, 
in  order  to  destroy  the  English  posts  in  that  quarter,  and  to 
penetrate  if  possible  as  far  as  Albany.  The  news  of  the  capture 
of  the  two  French  ships  of  course  ended  the  negotiations  at  Lon 
don:  and  accounts  of  other  events  of  a  more  serious  nature  soon 
after  arriving.,  destroyed  all  prospects  of  accommodation. 

*  The  documents  of  this  negotiation  are  given  at  length,  in  the  Memoir  ad 
dressed  by  the  French  Government  to  the  other  Courts  of  Europe  in  1756. 


484  THE    FRENCH    EXPELLED    FROM    1S7OVA    SCOTIA.        [1755. 

Nova  Scotia  had  been  invaded  in  May,  by  a  large  force  sent 
from  Boston,  under  Colonel  Winslow,  who  completely  subjugated 
that  country,  and  expelled  all  the  French  soldiers  from  it.  The 
inhabitants  were  almost  entirely  of  French  origin,  and  though 
professing  neutrality,  were  attached  to  that  nation,  by  feelings 
which,  it  was  believed,  would  never  be  eradicated;  it  was  in  con 
sequence  determined  to  remove  them  from  their  country,  and 
several  thousands  of  these  unfortunate  people  were  accordingly 
transported  to  Massachusetts  and  other  colonies,  where  they  sub 
sisted  miserably  under  the  name  of  Neutral  French,  until  the 
greater  part  of  them  repaired  to  France,  or  St.  Domingo,  or  Lou 
isiana.  Their  places  were  supplied  by  emigrants  chiefly  from 
Scotland,  with  whom  the  climate  of  Nova  Scotia  was  found  to 
agree  in  all  respects;  and  the  territory  has  ever  since  remained 
in  the  uninterrupted  possession  of  Great  Britain. 

The  attempt  made  by  the  British  to  settle  the  controversy  as  to 
the  dominion  of  the  Ohio  regions  in  the  same  way,  terminated 
in  a  manner  much  less  satisfactory  to  that  nation. 

General  Braddock  arrived  in  Virginia  in  February,  1755,  with 
two  regiments  of  regular  troops ;  and  having  made  requisitions  on 
the  Governors  of  that  province,  and  of  North  Carolina,  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania  for  additional  forces  and  supplies,  he  proceed 
ed  to  Fort  Cumberland  on  the  Potomac,  which  had  been  appoint 
ed  as  the  rendezvous  of  his  army.  Washington,  whom  he  had 
selected  as  aid-de-canlp,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  strongly  urged 
him  immediately  to  press  onwards  to  Fort  Duquesne,  ere  the  gar 
rison  at  that  place  should  be  increased  :  Braddock  followed  this 
advice,  and  though  badly  supplied,  in  consequence  of  the  failure 
of  the  contractors  to  produce  the  wagons  and  provisions  required, 
he  set  off  on  the  10th  of  June,  with  about  twelve  hundred  men, 
and  ten  pieces  of  artillery,  leaving  eight  hundred  others  to  follow 
under  Colonel  Dunbar.  The  natural  impediments  offered  by 
mountains,  forests  and  streams  retarded  the  march,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  9th  of  July,  that  they  reached  the  MonongaheJa,  which 
was  crossed  a  little  below  its  junction  with  the  Youghogany,  about 
fifteen  miles  from  Fort  Duquesne. 

The  approach  of  the  English  to  the  fort  had  been  communi 
cated  to  the  French  several  days  previous;  and  the  Commandant 
De  Contrecoeur  was  inclined  to  evacuate  the  place,  which  he  did 


1755.]      DEFEAT    OF    THE     ENGLISH    UNDER    BRADDOCK.  485 

not  consider  defensible  against  a  force  so  much  superior  to  his 
own.  One  of  his  officers,  M.  de  Beaujeu  however  offered  to  ad 
vance  against  the  enemy,  with  a  small  number  of  men  and  In 
dians;  and  the  proposition  being  accepted,  he  set  out  on  the 
morning  of  the  day  on  which  Braddock  crossed  the  Monongahela, 
at  the  head  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  French  and  about  six  hun 
dred  Indians,  taking  his  course  along  the  right  bank  of  that  stream. 
Having  proceeded  in  this  direction  six  miles,  Beaujeu  learned  that 
the  English  were  crossing  the  Monongahela  again,  at  a  short  dis 
tance  before  him;  and  he  concealed  his  men  among  the  trees  and 
in  the  ravines,  bordering  upon  a  plain  near  the  river,  through 
which  his  enemy  would  soon  pass. 

The  English  general  unsuspecting,  and  disdaining  the  caution 
which  his  aid-de-camp  Washington  endeavored  to  impress  upon 
him,  marched  onwards  with  his  men,  after  fording  the  river  to  its 
right  bank;  and  at  one  o'clock  they  entered  the  plain  above  men 
tioned,  which  they  had  nearly  traversed,  when  they  suddenly  re 
ceived  a  volley  of  musketry  in  front.  The  foremost  columns  re 
turned  the  fire,  but  at  random,  as  they  could  see  no  enemy,  and 
the  regular  troops,  unaccustomed  to  this  mode  of  warfare,  be 
came  panic-struck  and  fell  into  confusion;  the  Virginians  on 
the  other  hand,  took  refuge  each  behind  a  tree,  and  directed 
their  fire,  as  opportunities  were  offered,  against  the  French 
and  Indians,  The  battle  thus  lasted  three  hours,  at  the  end  of 
which  more  than  one  half  of  the  English  officers,  as  well  as  of  the 
soldiers,  were  killed  or  disabled  by  wounds  ;  those  who  could, 
then  retreated,  leaving  the  others  with  all  the  artillery,  baggage, 
ammunitions  and  stores  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  Braddock 
was  carried  from  the  field  severely  wounded;  all  the  other  princi 
pal  officers  of  the  English  were  killed  or  wounded  except  Wash 
ington,  on  whom  fell  the  conduct  of  the  retreat.  The  panic 
communicated  itself  to  Dunbar's  men,  who  were  met,  soon  after 
re-crossing  the  river,  and  it  was  impossible  to  restore  order  and 
subordination,  until  they  arrived  at  Cumberland.  The  general 
died  on  the  way,  near  Fort  Necessity,  the  place  at  which  Wash 
ington  had  capitulated  to  the  French  in  the  preceding  year;  and 
the  spot  where  his  remains  were  deposited,  is  still  shewn  to  the 
traveller  on  the  road  side,  at  the  foot  of  the  westernmost  ridge  of 
the  Alleghanies.  The  loss  on  the  part  of  the  French  was  trifling; 


486    EFFECTS   OF   BRADDOCK's   DEFEAT  ON  THE   INDIANS.    [1755. 

their  commander  Beaujeu  had  however  been  slain  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  action,  and  his  successor  Dumas  did  not  con 
sider  it  prudent  to  attempt  to  pursue  the  retreating  foe  ;  so  that 
after  the  Indians  had  killed  and  scalped  their  prisoners,  the  party 
returned  in  triumph,  and  laden  with  spoils  to  Fort  Duquesne. 

The  alarm  and  depression  produced  throughout  the  British  colo 
nies  by  the  news  of  Braddock's  defeat,  were  in  a  measure  coun 
terbalanced  by  General  Johnson's  victory  over  Dieskau  and  cap 
ture  of  that  commander,  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  the  Sacra 
ment  thenceforward  known  as  Lake  George,  in  September  fol 
lowing.  General  Shirley,  who  succeeded  Braddock  in  the  com 
mand  of  the  forces,  then  endeavored  to  organise  an  expedition 
against  Fort  Niagara,  with  which  object,  boats  wrere  built  and 
troops  were  collected  at  Oswego;  but  the  proceedings  were  con 
ducted  so  slowly,  that  winter  set  in  ere  the  preparations  were 
completed,  and  it  became  necessary  to  abandon  the  enterprise. 

In  Louisiana,  M.  de  Kerlerec,  who  succeeded  Vaudreuil  in  the 
government  in  the  summer  of  1753,  had  exerted  himself  like  his 
predecessors,  in  endeavoring  to  secure  the  Indians  in  favor  of  the 
French  ;  in  this,  however,  he  had  made  but  little  progress,  until 
the  arrival  of  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  Braddock,  the  moral  effect 
of  which  was  most  prejudicial  to  the  cause  of  the  English.  The 
'Choctas  seized  the  traders  of  the  latter  nation  in  their  country, 
and  carried  them  as  prisoners  to  Mobile;  the  Chickasas  appeared 
to  be  cowed  into  submission,  and  the  Great  Mortar,  the  principal 
chief  of  the  Upper  or  Coweeta  Creeks,  whom  the  French  pre 
tended  to  style  Emperor,  declared  openly  in  their  favor. 

The  condition  of  the  French  colony  in  Louisiana,  was  little  if 
at  all  improved  in  any  respect.  Its  population  did  not  exceed 
six  thousand  whites,  of  whom  about  fourteen  hundred  were  in 
the  Illinois,  and  about  four  thousand  negroes  almost  all  of  them 
in  the  lower  country.  The  immigration  was  very  small,  not  more 
than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  loss  by  death,  and  the  de 
parture — or  desertion  as  it  was  termed — of  the  inhabitants  to  the 
West  Indies  or  the  English  provinces;  and  the  persons  sent 
thither  from  France  as  settlers,  were  in  general  but  ill  calculated, 
morally  or  physically,  to  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  colony. 
The  people  continued  to  be,  as  before,  idle  and  dissolute;  the 
soldiers  were  insolent,  insubordinate  and  cowardly,  and  the  offi- 


1755.]  WRETCHED    CONDITION    OF    LOUISIANA.  487 


j  both  civil  and  military,  were  tyrannical  and  venal.  The 
Governor,  Kerlerec,  seems  indeed  to  have  been  inferior  in  talent 
and  energy  to  each  of  his  predecessors,  though  if  possible  more 
false  and  grasping  than  any  one  of  them.  His  despatches  to  the 
Government  are  a  tissue  of  complaints  on  account  of  the  delay 
of  supplies,  and  of  invectives  against  'the  English,  whom  he  is 
always  confident  of  being  able  to  destroy,  if  he  were  only  in  a 
situation  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  Choclas  for  presents,  and 
to  increase  the  garrisons  of  the  frontier  posts.  These  posts  were 
frequently  the  scenes  of  most  horrible  crimes,  committed  some 
times  by  the  Commandants,  and  sometimes  by  the  soldiers;  who 
seem  to  have  been  fully  equal  in  brutality  to  the  Turks  of  Algiers. 
A  religious  dispute  was  moreover  in  progress,  in  Louisiana,  at 
this  period,  in  which  the  people  seem  to  have  generally  taken 
sides,  probably  from  the  want  of  any  more  material  cause  for  ex 
citement.  The  parties  were  the  Jesuits  and  the  Capuchins  —  the 
black-gowns  and  the  bare-feet  —  as  they  were  respectively  termed 
by  the  Indians  ;  and  the  whole  question  was,  whether  or  not  the 
Jesuits  should  exercise  their  priestly  functions  in  New  Orleans 
and  its  district,  which  had  been  placed  by  royal  ordinance,  in 
1722,  under  the  exclusive  ecclesiastical  direction  of  the  Capu 
chins.  The  Jesuits  had,  as  already  shown,  obtained  permission 
to  form  an  establishment  near  the  city,  for  which  they  purchased 
a  portion  of  the  plantation  of  M.  de  Bienville  in  1726;  and  with 
the  care  and  economy  always  bestowed  by  them  on  their  affairs, 
this  establishment  had  been  considerably  increased  and  extended^ 
while  its  possessors  were  at  the  same  time  steadily  rising  in  con 
sideration  among  the  people.  The  prohibitions  to  which  they 
were  subjected  by  law,  fell  into  desuetude;  and  they  openly  per 
formed  all  the  offices  of  their  religion,  taking  care  at  first  to  avoid 
as  far  as  possible,  any  shock  to  the  susceptibilities  of  the  Capu 
chins.  Success  however  rendered  the  Jesuits  less  observant  in 
this  latter  respect,  until  they  at  length  went  so  far,  as  to  assume 
authority  in  the  district,  and  even  trt  threaten  their  rivals  with  an 
enforcement  towards  them  of  the  same  interdiction,  to  which  they 
themselves  had  been  obliged,  in  the  first  instance  to  submit. 
The  Capuchins  were  too  weak  to  struggle  against  opponents  then 
so  powerful:  but  the  star  of  the  Jesuits  had  reached  the  highest 
point  of  its  course,  and  was,  though  imperceptibly,  sinking;  and 


488  DISPUTE    BETWEEN    ENGLAND    AND    SPAIN.  [1755. 

what  the  mendicant  friars  failed  to  effect  by  representations  to  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  was  soon  after  consummated,  as  will  be 
shown,  by  the  strong  hand  of  the  civil  power. 

Kerlerec  endeavored  also,  through  the  agency  of  the  Creeks  to 
gain  over  the  Cherokees  :  but  Attakullakulla — the  Little  Carpen 
ter — the  most  esteemed  <*f  their  chiefs,  who  had  made  the  treaty 
with  the  English  at  London  in  1730,  informed  the  Governor  of 
South  Carolina  of  the  designs  of  the  French;  and  through  his  in 
fluence,  a  new  treaty  was  made,  by  which  the  Cherokees  ceded 
to  the  English  the  whole  of  their  territory  on  the  Savannah  and 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Tennessee  or  Cherokee  river.  In  this 
territory  two  forts  were  immediately  erected,  one  called  Prince 
George,  in  honor  of  the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne,  on  the  Seneca 
a  branch  of  the  Savannah  in  the  north-west  angle  of  South  Caro 
lina;  and  the  other  at  the  confluence  of  the  Tellico  with  the  Little 
Tennessee,  in  the  south-east  part  of  the  present  State  of  Ten 
nessee,  which  was  named  Fort  Loudoun,  after  Lord  Loudoun 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America. 

The  defeat  of  Braddock  by  the  French,  served  also  to  encour 
age  the  Spaniards  in  resistance  to  the  advancement  of  the  English 
power.  The  relations  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  were 
then  indeed  by  no  means  of  an  amicable  character.  A  Convention 
between  the  two  nations,  concluded  at  Madrid  in  October,  1750, 
had  fixed  the  terms  of  the  indemnification,  to  be  made  to  the 
British  for  the  loss  of  the  advantages  of  the  Asiento  contract, 
agreeably  to  the  treaty  of  A  ix  la  Chapelle;  but  the  great  questions 
as  to  the  navigation  of  the  West  Indian  seas,  and  the  boundaries 
of  the  possessions  of  the  two  nations  in  America,  were  undeter 
mined.  On  the  ocean,  the  Spanish  guarda-costas  ransacked  and 
plundered  British  vessels  and  ill-treated  their  crews.  On  the 
American  continent,  the  English  continued  their  encroachments 
upon  the  territories  claimed  by  Spain ;  and  their  settlements  ex 
tended  southward,  from  the  Alatamaha  to  the  Santilla,  and  even 
to  the  St.  Mary,  where  a  colony  of  Virginians  had  been  planted 
by  a  man  named  Grey,  in  spite  of  the  threats  and  remonstrances 
of  the  Governor  of  Florida.  In  1755,  Don  Jose  de  Leon,  was  sent 
from  St.  Augustine,  with  a  party  of  dragoons,  to  expel  the  English 
from  these  latter  places;  this  was  easily  effected,  but  on  the  re 
tirement  of  the  troops,  the  settlers  returned,  and  occupied  their 


.var 


1756.]  BEGINNING    OF    THE     SEVEN    YEARS    WAR. 

former  positions.     A  complaint  was  then  addressed  to  the  p;o;  t;rn- 
ment  at  London,  which  issued  orders  to  the  Governors  of  Geor 
gia  and   South   Carolina  for  the  withdrawal  of  its  subj<  • 
those  countries;    however,  before  the  orders  could  be  <  \ 
the  two  nations  were  again  at  war  with  each  other. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  hostile  operations  above  mention 
America,  and  on  the  ocean,  the  peace  was  not  formally  br> 
until  the  spring  of  1756,  when  the  French  attacked  Minorca, 
which  then  belonged  to  Great  Britain.  The  other  European 
powers  had  by  this  time  become  involved  on  one  side  or  the' other, 
as  their  respective  interests  dictated;  and  the  declaration  of 
by  Great  Britain  against  France,  on  the,  17th  of  May,  was  the 
mencement  of  another  general  struggle  among  the  nations  of  that 
quarter  of  the  world,  which  is  celebrated  in  history  as  "  the  Seven 
Years  War."  During  its  continuance  many  combinations  were 
formed,  but  the  principal  parties  in  the  field,  were  Great  Britain 
and  Prussia  in  alliance  against  France  and  Austria.  The  Prussians 
and  the  Austrians  limited  their  desolating  movements  to  Germany ; 
the  French  and  the  English  met  hand  to  hand  on  the  cultivated 
fields  of  Europe,  in  the  trackless  forests  of  America,  in  the  burning 
plains  of  Hindostan,  and  in  fleets  on  every  division  of  the  ocean. 

In  North  America,  the  war  between  the  English  and  the  French 
was  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  countries  of  the  St.  Lnw- 
renqe  and  the  Upper  Ohio;  a  sketch  of  the  events  in  those  regions 
will  however  be  necessary,  in  order  to  explain  their  effects  upon 
Florida  and  Louisiana.  In  the  spring  of  1756,  the  Marquis  de 
Montcalm  arrived  at  Quebec,  to  supply  the  place  of  Dieskau  in 
command  of  the  French  forces  ;  and  he  immediately  marched 
against  Oswego,  which,  after  a  gallant  defence  by  the  garrison, 
was  taken  on  the  14th  of  August.  The  loss  of  this  most  impor 
tant  point  dispirited  the  English,  who  could  only  remain  on  the 
defensive,  until  winter  put  an  end  to  the  operations;  and  in  the  fol 
lowing  year  1757,  Montcalm  was  again  successful  in  the  only  ex 
pedition  undertaken  by  him,  in  which  Fort  William  Henry 
lished  by  Johnson  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  ( "••• 
was  forced  to  capitulate.  The  French  were  thus  far  triumphant, 
and  nothing  impeded  their  communications  between  Quebec  and 
New  Orleans,  the  whole  intervening  regions  of  the  Lakes  and  the 
Mississippi  being  in  their  undisputed  possession.  The  Six  Na~ 
62 


490  PROGRESS    OF    THE    WAR    IN    THE    NORTH.  [1758. 

tions  of  the  Iroquois  acknowledged  their  supremacy;  in  the  Illinois 
all  was  kept  in  profound  tranquillity,  and  farther  south  every  thing 
went  on,  wretchedly  indeed,  but  without  the  occurrence  of  any 
event  worthy  of  note.*  The  French  and  Indians  made  several  in 
cursions  into  Virginia,  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  in  which,  par 
ticularly  in  one  led  by  M.  de  Villiers,  another  brother  of  Jumon- 
ville,  they  comnfitteci  ravages  on  the  frontier  settlements,  and 
arried  away  many  of  the  inhabitants  to  Louisiana  and  Canada,  f 
William  Pitt  had,  in  the  meantime,  become  established  in  power 
as  chief  of  the  British  ministry;  and  under  his  imperious  and  ener 
getic  dictation,  the  aspect  of  things  in  America  was  soon  chang 
ed.  Lord  Loudoun  was  succeeded  as  commander  of  the  forces, 
by  General  Abercrombie,  who  found  himself  in  the  spring  of  1758, 
at  the  head  of  fifty  thousand  men,  mostly  regular  troops.  The 
French  had  also  considerably  increased  the  number  of  their  sol 
diers  in  America;  and  their  great  fortresses  of  Louisbourg  and 
Quebec,  with  the  line  of  smaller  forts  extending  westward,  ren 
dered  their  position  exceedingly  strong.  A  serious  dispute  had 
however  arisen  between  the  Governor  General  Vaudreuil,  and  the 
military  Commandant  Montcalm ;  the  latter  of  whom  urged  their 
King  to  embrace  the  opportunity  offered  by  success,  to  negotiate 
with  Great  Britain  for  a  favorable  boundary,  while  Vaudreuil  could 
think  of  nothing  less,  than  driving  the  English  into  the  Atlantic,, 
and  taking  of  all  their  provinces. 

*The  European  world  at  this  period,  received  some  important  additions  to  its 
knowledge  of  the  Mississippi  regions,  by  the  publication  of  several  works,  which 
have  been  frequently  mentioned  in  the  preceding  pages. 

Le  Page,  Du  Pratz,  who  had  acted  as  Director  of  the  Royal  Plantations  in 
Louisiana,  until  the  surrender  of  the  India  Company's  charter  in  1731,  published 
in  1758  his  Natural  and  Civil  History  of  that  country,  which  has  been  translated 
into  English  and  several  other  languages.  Though  filled  with  errors  on  all  mat 
ters  of  which  the  writer  was  not  an  eye  witness,  and  written  in  the  most  confus 
ed  and  disorderly  manner,  it  is  nevertheless  valuable  from  the  apparent  sinceri 
ty  and  truthfulness  of  the  accounts  of  many  interesting  circumstances. 

The  "  Memoires  sur  la  Louisiane,"  compiled  by  the  Abb6  le  Mascrier  from 
the  notes  of  Captain  Dumont,  had  appeared  previously  in  1753.  Bossu,  from 
whose  narrative  of  his  residence  in  Louisiana,  much  information  is  derived  as  to 
events  from  1751  to  1761,  did  not  publish  his  work  until  some  years  afterwards. 

f  The  French  accounts  of  that  period,  speak  particularly  of  the  gallantry  dis 
played  by  Villiers,  in  the  capture  of  a  fort  in  Virginia,  which  is  sometimes  called 
Granville,  and  sometimes  Dambelle.  The  prisoners  were  carried  to  the  Illinois, 
whence  they  were  conducted  to  New  Orleans  by  Bossu,  as  related  in  his  travels. 


1758.]    CAPTURE  OF  FORT  DUQUESNE  BY  THE  ENGLISH.    491 

Under  these  new  circumstances,  the  campaign  of  1758  was 
begun.  In  the  north-east.  General  Amherst  with  twelve  thousand 
soldiers,  and  a  large  naval  armament,  attacked  Louisbourg,  which 
after  a  short  defence,  was  surrendered  with  all  its  magazines  of 
provisions,  ammunition  and  arms,  and  its  garrison  of  nearly  three 
thousand  men  became  prisoners  of  war.  From  the  Hudson, 
General  Abercrombie  proceeded  to  Lake  George  with  sixteen 
thousand  men,  and  besieged  the  strong  fortress  of  Carillon  or 
Ticonderoga,  at  the  outlet  of  that  Lake,  from  which  he  was  re 
pulsed  with  loss  by  Montcalm  on  the  8th  of  July.  Abercrombie 
was  nevertheless  able  to  detach  a  portion  of  his  army,  under 
General  Bradstreet,  who  embarking  at  Oswego,  crossed  Lake 
Ontario  and  took  and  destroyed  Fort  Frontenac,  the  important 
post  established  by  La  Salle,  at  the  outlet  of  the  lake  by  the  St. 
Lawrence,  where  the  city  of  Kingston  now  stands. 

At  the  same  time,  no  less  than  eight  thousand  British  regulars 
and  volunteers  from  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia,  were 
on  the  way  under  General  Forbes,  with  the  object  of  expelling 
the  French  from  the  Ohio  ;  the  Virginians  being  commanded  by 
Colonel  Washington,  whose  good  conduct  in  the  unfortunate  ex 
pedition  of  Braddock,  had  wron  for  him  the  respect  of  all,  and 
caused  great  reliance  to  be  placed  on  his  judgment,  by  the  direc 
tors  of  the  operations  in  that  quarter.  The  first  encounter  be 
tween  the  parties  was  unfavorable  to  the  English,  as  Major  Grant 
with  eight  hundred  men  who  had  been  sent  in  advance,  were  met 
near  the  fort  on  the  14th  of  September,  and  defeated  with  great 
loss  by  the  French  under  Captain  Aubry.  The  main  army  under 
Forbes  did  not  reach  the  place  until  the  25th  of  November,  and 
then  they  found  only  the  ruins  of  the  French  post:  the  Comman 
dant' De  Lignerie  having  but  five  hundred  men  in  his  garrison, 
and  being  deserted  by  all  his  Indians,  had  wisely  retreated  in 
boats  down  the  Ohio  to  Louisiana,  so  that  nothing  was  left  for  the 
English,  except  to  rebuild  the  fort,  which  they  did,  changing  its 
name  to  Fort  Pitt.  The  Indians  immediately  came  in  crowds  to 
offer  their  services  to  the  new  masters  of  this  important  spot,  by 
the  capture  of  which,  quiet  and  confidence  was  restored  to  the 
English,  throughout  their  whole  frontier  on  the  Ohio ;  settlers  then 
appeared  from  the  east,  and  the  town  of  Pittsburgh  in  time  grew 
up  under  the  walls  of  Fort  Pitt. 


492  CANADA     CONQUERED     BY    THE     ENGLISH.  [1759. 

Far  more  important  were  the  events  of  the  following  year,  in 
which  the  British  arms  were  crowned  with  signal  success  at  every 
point.  In  America,  the  conduct  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  that 
nation  had  been  entrusted  by  Pitt  to  Major  General  Edward 
Wolfe,  as  commander-in-chief,  who  had  projected  three  great 
expeditions,  all  simultaneous  and  tending  to  (he  same  end, —  the 
conquest  of  Canada.  Wolfe  was  himself  to  head  one  army,  which 
was  to  ascend  the  St.  Lawrence  in  a  fleet  to  Quebec;  another  was 
to  proceed  under  General  Amherst  for  the  capture  of  the  French 
posts  on  Lake  Champlain,  while  the  third,  under  Prideaux  and 
Johnson,  was  to  attack;  the  stronghold  of  the  enemy  on  the  Niagara. 

The  details  of  these  expeditions  it  is  unnecessary  to  present; 
their  results  are  well  known,  but  should  be  recapitulated.  The 
French  fort  at  Niagara  was  taken  by  Johnson  on  the  24th  of  Ju 
ly,  after  a  severe  action,  in  which  Prideaux  was  killed,  and  all  the 
other  French  posts  in  that  quarter  iell  soon  into  the  hands  of  the 
English.  On  the  approach  of  Amherst  from  Albany,  Ticondero- 
ga  and  Crown  Point  were  successively  evacuated  by  the  French, 
who  concentrated  their  forces  in  the  Isle  aux  Noix  on  Lake 
Champlain;  and  Amherst  not  being  strong  enough  to  attack  them, 
was  obliged  to  pass  the  winter  at  Crown  Point.  In  the  mean 
time  several  actions  had  been  fought  before  Quebec,  in  the  last  of 
which  the  English  gained  possession  of  the  heights  of  Abraham 
commanding  the  city,  on  the  13th  of  September,  when  Wolfe  and 
Montcalm  were  both  killed.  The  town  and  fortress  was  then 
surrendered  by  the  Governor  M.  de  Ramezay,  and  the  approach 
of  winter  put  an  end  to  all  operations. 

Whilst  these  events  were  passing  in  North  America,  the  French 
West  India  islands  of  Mariegalante  and  Guadaloupe  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  English;  the  French  fleets  were  beaten  and  destroy 
ed  in  several  engagements,  and  the  terrible  battle  of  Minden  on 
the  1st  of  August,  proved  so  decisive  in  its  effects  upon  the  forces 
of  Louis  XV.  that  they  were  obliged  to  abandon  Germany.  The 
succors  sent  from  France  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  were  captured  by 
Byron  at  the  mouth  of  that  river,  in  the  spring  of  1760;  and  after 
several  fruitless  efforts  to  regain  Quebec,  Vaudreuil  on  the  8th  of 
September,  signed  a  capitulation  at  Montreal,  by  which  he  sur 
rendered  to  General  Amherst,  the  whole  territory  of  Canada,  on 
condition  that  the  inhabitants  were  to  be  protected  in  their  civil 


1760.]          THE     CHEROKEES    ATTACK     SOUTH     CAROLINA.  493 

rights,  and  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  until  a  treaty  of  peace 
should  have  determined  the  future  destinies  of  the  country.  Vau- 
dreuil  and  his  principal  officers  were  immediately  sent  to  France, 
whither  they  were  followed  by  the  remainder  of  the  French  troops. 
General  Amherst  then  detached  Major  Rogers  with  a  body  of 
men  to  take  possession  of  Detroit,  Mackinac  and  the  other  posts 
on  the  Great  Lakes  which  wrere  surrendered,  after  some  opposition 
from  the  Indians,  in  the  spring  and  summer,  and  the  flag  of 
France  disappeared  from  the  regions  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

The  satisfaction  produced  among  the  English  colonies  by  these 
triumphs  in  the  north,  was  lessened  by  troubles  in  the  south- west. 
The  Cherokees  did  not  long  remain  faithful  to  the  engagements 
contracted  with  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  in  1756;  or 
rather,  they  were  driven  to  break  those  engagements,  by  the  ill- 
treatment  of  the  traders  and  settlers  in  their  vicinity.  They  be 
gan,  as  usual,  by  attacks  on  the  frontier  settlements  of  the  English, 
which  proving  successful,  they  boldly  laid  siege  to  forts  Prince 
George  and  Loudoun.  Fort  Prince  George  was  relieved  by  a  large 
body  of  highlanders  detached  by  General  Amherst  for  the  purpose, 
under  Major  Montgomery  in  the  spring  of  1760;  but  that  officer 
advancing  incautiously  towards  the  upper  country,  fell  into  an  am 
buscade,  and  after  losing  several  of  his  men,  was  obliged  to  re 
treat.  Fort  Loudoun  then  capitulated  to  the  Indians,  who  put  to 
death  the  greater  part  of  its  defenders.  In  the  following  year 
1761,  the  English  resumed  the  offensive  under  the  command  of 
Major  Grant,  who  defeated  the  Cherokees,  and  harrassed  them 
in  every  way  to  such  an  extent,  that  they  \vere  obliged  to  sue  for 
peace.  Similar  attacks  were  made  by  the  Indians  on  the  settle 
ments  in  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  which  were  as  usual  attri 
buted  to  the  agency  of  the  French  :  but  the  evils  produced  were 
on  so  small  a  scale,  that  no  effectual  attempt  was  made  to  check 
them,  until  the  conclusion  of  the  war  writh  France. 

Louisiana  remained  undisturbed,  though  much  distress  was  occa 
sioned,  especially  in  the  lower  country,  by  the  interruption  of  com 
munications  with  France  and  the  West  Indies,  which  completely 
prostrated  the  agriculture  and  commerce  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
same  circumstances  also  prevented  the  transmission  of  the  funds 
from  France,  for  the  payment  of  the  civil  and  military  officers  and 
the  soldiers*,  which  formed  the  whole  circulating  medium  of  the 


I 

494  STATE    OF    LOUISIANA    DURING    THE    WAR.  [1760. 

colony;  and  in  order  to  remedy  this  deficiency  the  royal  commis 
sary  M.  de  Rochemore,  issued  notes  called  bons,  varying  in 
amount  from  half  a  livre  to  a  hundred  livres,  with  the  understand 
ing  that  any  one,  on  presenting  them  for  a  certain  sum,  might  re 
ceive  in  exchange,  a  bill  on  the  French  treasury,  payable  at  sight 
in  Paris.  /This  arrangement  was  found  to  answer  very  well  for 
some  time  ;  the  bills  were  passed  off  to  the  captains  of  English 
vessels  who  frequented  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  during  the  whole 
period  of  the  war,  under  different  pretexts,  bringing  cargoes  of 
goods  from  Jamaica,  Charleston  or  New  York,  and  for  some  time 
they  were  regularly  paid  on  presentation  in  France. 

This  illicit  trade  with  the  English  was  encouraged  as  far  as 
possible  by  Kerlerec,  but  it  was  violently  opposed  by  Roche- 
more;  and  an  open  contest  was  carried  on  between  the  two  high 
functionaries,  in  which  every  person  in  the  colony  took  part,  ac 
cording  to  his  interests  or  his  views  of  justice.  Rochemore  con 
tended,  that  it  was  most  imprudent  to  allow  the  enemies  this  free 
access  to  the  rivers  and  ports  of  the  country,  enabling  them  to  ac 
quire  a  knowledge  of  its  strength,  which  might  be  employed 
against  it;  while  the  Governor  maintained,  that  without  the  sup 
plies  thus  furnished  by  the  English,  the  colony  would  soon  be 
ruined.  The  French  government  tacitly  took  part  with  Kerlerec, 
and  the  remonstrances  of  the  commissary  were  not  heeded  :  at 
length,  however,  in  1759,  the  treasury  suddenly  refused  to  pay 
any  farther  bills,  drawn  on  it  from  Louisiana,  on  the  grounds  of 
want  of  sufficiency  in  the  vouchers ;  and  the  trade  with  the  Eng 
lish  wras  thus  considerably  diminished,  from  the  incapacity  of  the 
people  of  the  country  to  afford  adequate  returns.  The  govern 
ment  nevertheless,  made  no  other  provision  for  the  expenses  of 
the  administration  in  Louisiana,  which  were,  for  three  years,  met 
only  by  loans  exacted  from  the  inhabitants  in  the  most  oppressive 
manner;  and  at  the  end  of  that  period,  the  debts  thus  contracted, 
exceeded  seven  millions  of  francs.  The  same  dishonest  proceed 
ings  had  been  practised  in  Canada  to  a  much  greater  extent  by 
the  Intendant  M.  Begon,  who  was  severely  punished  on  his  re 
turn  to  France,  for  excesses  encouraged  directly  or  indirectly  by 
the  ministry. 

At  this  time,  an  attempt  was  made  for  the  restoration  of  peace, 
which  however  served  only  to  render  the  difficulties  greater. 


1761.]        NEGOTIATION  BETWEEN  ENGLAND  AND  FRANCE.         495 

• 

Whilst  the  British  were  engaged  in  completing  the  conquest 
of  Canada,  their  King  George  II.  died  in  October,  1760,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  grandson  George  III.,  then  in  the  twenty-second 
year  of  his  age :  in  August  of  the  preceding  year,  Ferdinand  VI.  of 
Spain  had  been  in  like  manner  succeeded  by  his  brother  Charles 
III. ;  and  these  two  events  materially  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs 
both  in  Europe  and  in  America.  George  III.  was  a  man  of 
limited  capacity,  obstinate  and  most  jealous  of  his  prerogative, 
upon  the  maintenance  of  which  he  considered  the  security,  not 
only  of  his  own  crown,  but  of  the  whole  kingdom  to  depend. 
The  new  king  of  Spain  was  more  upright,  and  of  much  stronger 
character  in  every  respect,  than  any  of  his  predecessors  since 
Philip  II. ;  and  being  really  desirous  for  the  advancement  of  the 
interests  of  his  nation,  he  determined  immediately  to  endeavor 
to  restore  peace  in  Europe.  Partly  through  his  mediation,  nego 
tiations  were  begun  for  that  object,  in  June  1761,  between  Mr. 
Pitt  and  M.  de  Bussy  a  French  commissioner,  at  London,  and 
at  Paris  between  Mr.  Stanley  and  the  Duke  de  Choiseul  who  had 
recently  become  Prime  Minister  of  France. 

The  questions  discussed  in  this  negotiation,  related  almost  exclu 
sively  to  America,  in  which  the  parties  had  the  greatest  interests  at 
stake.*  The  possession  of  Canada  by  Great  Britain  was  admitted 
from  the  commencement  by  the  French;  but  difficulties  occurred 
as  to  the  territory  which  was  to  be  embraced  under  that  general 
name,  and  as  to  the  islands  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  which 
France  wished  to  retain  for  the  benefit  of  her  fishery.  Pitt,  as 
suming  the  most  haughty  and  uncompromising  tone,  refused  to 
allow  any  island,  or  other  facility  for  the  fishery,  to  the  French; 
and  he  insisted  that  Canada  should  include  the  whole  course  of 
the  Ohio,  upon  the  grounds  that  the  French  Commissaries  had  so 
stated  its  extent  during  the  late  discussion,  and  that  Vaudreuil 
had  declared  that  territory  to  lie  within  his  government,  at  the 
time  of  the  surrender.  This  Vaudreuil,  however,  positively  deni 
ed,  protesting  that  he  had  represented  Canada  as  separated  from. 

*The  documents  exchanged  in  this  negotiation,  were  printed  in  France  by 
order  of  the  Government,  under  the  title  of  "  Actes  et  Memoiresauthentiques  des 
negociations  faites  pour  le  paix  en  1761,"  and  soon  after  in  English  at  London; 
and  may  be  all  found,  with  many  others  relating  to  the  same  subject,  in  the  loth 
volume  of  the  Parliamentary  History. 


496  NEGOTIATION    ABRUPTLY    TERMINATED.  [1761. 

Louisiana  by  a  line  drawn  along  the  highlands,  between  the  head 
waters  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Illinois  on  the  south,  and  those  of 
the  streams  falling  into  the  Lakes  Michigan  and  Erie  on  the  north. 
M.  de  Bussy  then  offered  as  the  ultimatum  of  his  government, 
that  the  line  separating  the  dominions  of  the  two  powers  in 
America,  should  be  drawn  from  the  Perdido  river  northward  to  the 
Lakes,  so  as  to  include  in  Louisiana,  the  whole  course  of  the 
Mobile  river,  and  the  lower  portions  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Cum 
berland  and  the  Ohio.  Upon  the  rejection  of  this  proposition,  it 
was  modified,  by  substituting  for  a  line  of  boundary,  a  strip  or 
tract  of  territory  extending  from  the  Mexican  Gulf  to  Lake  Erie, 
wherein  no  settlements  should  be  made  by  either  nation;  but  this 
was  also  peremptorily  refused  by  the  imperious  British  minister, 
who  had  vowed,  as  he  said — "  that  another  peace  of  Utrecht 
should  not  disgrace  the  annals  of  England." 

The  business  was  at  this  point  rendered  more  complicated,  by 
the  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  French  government,  to  introduce 
into  it,  the  consideration  of  certain  claims  of  Spain  with  regard  to 
America,  of  which  the  principal  were,  the  concession  to  that  na 
tion  of  the  privilege  to  fish  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  the 
abandonment  by  the  English,  of  their  establishments  on  the  Bay 
of  Honduras.  This  however  only  served  to  afford  Pitt,  who  hated 
and  despised  Spain  and  its  people,  an  opportunity  for  a  reply* — the 
most  haughty  and  insolent  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  diploma 
cy — repelling  all  pretensions  on  the  part  of  France  to  interfere  in 
disputes  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain  ;  and  after  some  farther 
correspondence,  in  the  same  tone,  the  negotiation  was  broken  off 
in  September.  Mr.  Pitt  in  fact  believed  that  the  discussion 
was  a  pretext  on  the  part  of  France  to  gain  time;  and  he  had  in 
consequence  pressed  the  war  against  that  powder  as  much  as  pos 
sible,  and  exerted  himself  in  preparing  new  forces,  during  the 
whole  period  of  the  negotiation. 

*  The  following  extract  from  Mr.  Pitt's  letter  to  M.  de  Bussy  of  July  24,  1761, 
is  characteristic  of  its  author  :— "  It  is  my  duty  farther  to  declare  to  you,  in  plain 
terms,  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty,  that  he  will  not  suffer  the  disputes  of  Spain, 
to  be  blended  in  any  manner  whatever,  in  the  negotiation  of  peace  between  the 
two  crowns;  to  which  I  must  add,  that  it  will  be  considered  an  affront  to  His 
Majesty's  dignity,  and  as  a  thing  incompatible  with  the  sincerity  of  the  negotia 
tion,  to  make  any  farther  mention  of  such  a  circumstance.  Moreover,  it  is  ex 
pected,  that  France  will  not  at  any  time,  presume  a  right  of  intermeddling  in 
such  disputes,  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain." 


1761.]     DISCUSSIONS    IN    ENGLAND    RESPECTING    CANADA.       497 

| 

A  discussion  was  at  the  same  time,  carried  on  in  England, 
through  newspapers  and  pamphlets  for  the  most  part  anonymous, 
as  to  the  policy  of  retaining  the  countries  conquered  from  the 
French  in  America,  in  the  event  of  a  peace.*  Their  retention  was 
urged,  on  the  grounds  of  the  security  which  it  would  afford  to 
the  English  colonies,  and  the  general  diminution  of  the  power 
and  influence  of  the  French ;  while  it  was  insisted  on  the  other 
hand,  that  France  should  be  left  in  possession  of  Canada  and 
Louisiana,  as  "a  check"  upon  the  English  colonies  themselves, 
which  would  otherwise  "extend  almost  without  bounds,  into  the 
inland  parts,  and  increase  infinitely  from  all  causes;  having  a 
numerous,  hardy,  independent  people,  possessed  of  a  strong 
country,  communicating  little  or  not  at  all  with  England,  living 
wholly  on  their  own  labor,  and  in  process  of  time  knowing  little 
and  inquiring  little  about  the  mother  country."  These  latter  views 
were  defended  with  much  ability  by  a  writer,  since  known  to  be 
Edmund  Burke;  and  they  were  opposed  with  less  force  perhaps, 
but  \vith  greater  ingenuity  and  knowledge  of  the  circumstances, 
by  another  anonymous  author,  who  proved  to  be  Benjamin 
Franklin.  The  latter  denounced  the  proposed  "check,"  as  a 
"modest  wrord  for  massacreing  men,  women  and  children,"  to 
which  the  French  would  be  directly  incited  by  the  restitution  of 
Canada;  and  he  recommended  instead,  as  less  cruel,  the  adoption 
of  the  mode  employed  by  Pharaoh  for  preventing  the  increase  of 
the  Israelites.  In  answer  to  another  assertion,  that  the  extension 
of  the  British  territory  in  America  would  drain  the  mother  coun 
try  of  its  population,  Franklin  declared — that  the  emigration -from 
Britain  alone  to  the  transatlantic  provinces,  for  a  long  period 
immediately  preceding,  had  been  less  than  ten  families  in  each 
year!  Burke  was  the  advocate  of  the  interests  and  glory  of  Great 

*The  discussion  was  begun  by  Lord  Bath,  (better  known  by  his  family  name 
of  Edward  Pulteney,)  in  "A  Letter  to  two  great  men,"  (the  Duke  of  Newcastle 
and  Mr.  Pitt,)  which  brought  forth  from  Burke,  an  "Answer  to  the  letter  to  two 
great  men,1'  containing  the  passage  here  extracted  on  the  necessity  of  "a  check." 
Franklin's  paper  was  entitled,  "  The  interests  of  Great  Britain  considered,  with 
regard  to  her  colonies,  and  the  acquisition  of  Canada  and  Guadaloupe  ;"  arid  to 
this  Burke,  in  1762,  replied,  by  "An  examination  of  the  commercial  principles 
of  the  late  negotiation  between  Great  Britain  and  France,"  in  which  he  repeat 
ed  arid  defended  his  former  vieAV,  that  the  retention  of  Guadaloupe  would  be 
more  advantageous  to  Great  Britain,  than  the  annexation  of  Canada  to  her 
empire. 


498  SECOND    FAMILY    COMPACT    OF    THE    BOURBONS.       [1761. 


Britain  alone ;  Franklin  contended  for  those  of  the  whole  British 
people.  At  the  present  day,  it  would  be  difficult  to  disprove  the 
reasonableness  of  the  views  presented  by  Burke;  as  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  English  colonies  would  have  increased  in  every 
way,  much  more  slowly,  had  the  French  been  replaced  in  posses 
sion  of  the  territories  conquered,  and  that  they  might  have  re 
mained  much  longer  under  the  tutelage  of  the  mother  country, 
whose  government  would  have  taken  care  to  afford  them  no  far 
ther  support  or  protection,  than  might  be  necessary  to  maintain  a 
balance  of  power  between  them  and  their  immediate  neighbors. 
Fortunately  however  for  America  and  for  the  world,  Canada  was 
retained  at  the  peace  soon  after  concluded. 

The  suspicions  of  the  British  minister  with  regard  to  the  sin 
cerity  of  the  French,  proved  to  be  well  founded ;  for  the  Duke 
de  Choiseul  was  engaged  at  the  same  time,  in  a  most  secret 
negotiation  with  Spain,  to  which  he  rendered  that  with  Great  Bri 
tain  subservient;  and  he  attained  his  end,  by  the  conclusion  of  a 
second  "  Family  Compact,"  binding  France  and  Spain  together, 
in  an  alliance  much  more  intimate  than  any  previously  existing 
between  them,  or  indeed  between  any  two  independent  nations. 

By  this  compact,  signed  at  Paris  on  the  15th  of  August,  1761, 
the  two  sovereigns  renewed  the  mutual  guarantee  made  at  Fon- 
tainebleau  in  1743,*  of  all  their  dominions,  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  without  reserve  or  exception ;  and  they  in  like  manner, 
pledged  themselves,  to  consider  as  their  common  enemy,  any 
power  which  might  become  the  enemy  of  either,  and  to  maintain 
and  furnish  upon  the  first  demand,  a  certain  amount  of  military 
and  naval  force  for  the  war,  except  in  some  specified  cases  in 
which  Spain  was  not  to  be  required  to  take  part.  All  the  sove 
reigns  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  and  none  others,  might  enter  into 
the  compact ;  and  the  subjects  and  vessels  of  the  parties  were  to 
be  entitled  to  peculiar  privileges  and  advantages,  in  the  dominions 
of  all  of  them.  At  the  same  time  moreover,  a  Convention  was 
signed,  by  which  Spain  engaged  to  declare  war  against  Great 
Britain  on  the  1st  of  May,  1762,  unless  the  latter  should  have  pre- 

*Sec  the  account  of  this  first  Family  Compact  at  page  448.  It  is  most  re 
markable  that  this  treaty  should  be  so  little  known,  considering  the  length  of 
time  which  has  passed  since  its  publication  in  1811.  l^To  allusion  to  it  has  been 
found  in  any  English  or  American  history. 


1762.]  SPAIN    JOINS    FRANCE    AGAINST    ENGLAND.  499 

viously  made  peace  with  France;  and  all  the  advantages  acquired, 
or  losses  sustained  by  either  during  this  war,  were  to  be  made 
common  to  both,  by  sharing,  or  by  compensation  to  the  loser. 

Although  this  negotiation  had  been  conducted  with  the  utmost 
care  to  keep  it  secret,  Pitt  soon  learned  that  some  engagements 
in  the  nature  of  an  alliance,  had  been  concluded  between  France 
and  Spain ;  and  he  proposed  to  his  colleagues,  that  the  British 
ambassador  at  Madrid  should  be  instructed  to  demand  the  terms 
of  these  stipulations,  in  support  of  which  demand,  a  strong  fleet 
should  be  placed  before  Cadiz.  Pitt  was  however  not  so  power 
ful  in  the  cabinet  as  he  had  been:  the  new  king,  ignorant, 
obstinate  and  wedded  to  his  prerogative,  was  not  pleased  to  see 
any  other  will  than  his  own  exerted  openly ;  his  favorite  Lord 
Bute  pronounced  the  proposition  rash  and  unadvisable,  and  the 
minister,  unable  to  carry  his  views  into  effect,  resigned  his  office, 
receiving  however  at  the  same  time,  a  peerage  for  his  wife,  and 
an  immense  pension  secured  to  himself. 

The  Earl  of  Egremont  succeeded  Pitt  as  the  head  of  the  British 
ministry,  though  Lord  Bute  directed  every  thing.  No  efforts 
were  spared  to  prevent  a  rupture  of  the  peace  with  Spain,  but 
they  proved  unavailing.  The  Court  of  Madrid  temporised,  and 
continued  its  preparations  for  war;  and  so  soon  as  the  treasure 
fleet  from  America,  was  safely  moored  in  Cadiz,  it  threw  off  the 
mask,  and  set  Great  Britain  at  defiance.  The  Spanish  ambassa 
dor  quitted  London,  after  venting  his  spleen  against  Pitt,  in  a 
memorial,  holding  him  up  as  the  cause  of  all  the  difficulties  be 
tween  the  two  nations  ;  and  in  January,  1672,  war-  was  declared 
by  each  power  against  the  other,  almost  at  the  same  moment. 

The  vast  armaments  prepared  by  Pitt  then  came  into  play  with 
terrible  effect.  Martinique,  Granada  and  St.  Lucie  were  taken 
by  Rodney  in  January,  and  in  August  following,  Havanna  was 
surrendered  to  Albemarle  and  Pococke.  In  the  East  Indies,  the 
dominion  of  France  had  been  entirely  overthrown  by  Clive  ;  and 
Sir  William  Draper,  with  a  large  force  sent  from  Madras,  captured 
the  Philippine  Islands  in  September.  On  the  American  Conti 
nent,  the  only  hostile  operations  were  those  of  the  English  against 
the  Indians  of  the  Lake  regions,  who  resolutely  opposed  the  es 
tablishment  of  the  new  white  people  among  them  j  but  Florida 
and  Louisiana  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  conquerors  of  Canada. 


500        NEGOTIATIONS    FOR    PEACE    RESUMED    AT    PARIS.      [1762. 

Negotiations  had  been  meanwhile  re-opened,  through  the  inter 
vention  of  the  Sardinian  plenipotentiaries  at  London  and  Paris, 
who  conducted  the  real  communications  between  Bute  and  Choi- 
seul,  while  the  Duke  of  Bedford  as  British  ambassador  at  Paris, 
and  the  Duke  de  Nivernois  representing  France  in  the  same  ca 
pacity  at  London,  were  the  ostensible  agents.*  The  French,  after 
some  discussion  as  to  the  boundaries  of  Canada,  in  order  if  pos 
sible  to  retain  a  portion  of  the  territory  between  the  Lakes  and 
the  Mississippi,  agreed  to  surrender  to  England  all  their  posses 
sions  east  of  that  river,  except  NewT  Orleans,  in  return  for  their 
lost  West  India  Islands ;  they  were  nevertheless  anxious,  as  be 
fore,  to  secure  some  coast  or  island  on  the  banks  of  Newfound 
land,  for  the  benefit  of  their  fishery,  and  the  Spaniards  insisted 
on  the  abandonment  of  Honduras  by  the  British.  These  difficul 
ties  however  disappeared  on  the  arrival  of  the  news  of  the 
capture  of  Havanna,  in  return  for  wrhich  the  British  demanded 
the  cession  either  of  Florida  or  of  Porto  Rico ;  and  the  Spanish 
government,  after  a  short  deliberation,  found  it  more  prudent  to 
surrender  Florida,  and  to  recede  from  all  its  other  preten 
sions  without  delay,  in  order  to  avoid  farther  losses.  The  pre 
liminaries  of  a  treaty  wrere  in  consequence  drawn  up  and  signed 
at  Paris,  on  the  3rd  of  November,  1762,  by  the  plenipotentiaries 

*The  Count  de  Viry  was  the  Sardinian  Minister  at  London,  the  Eailli  de  So 
lar  represented  the  same  power  at  Paris ;  they  are  universally  described  as  being 
men  of  superior  talents  and  character,  and  they  each  exercised  considerable  in 
fluence  in  the  Courts  to  which  they  were  accredited.  The  weight  of  the  busi 
ness  of  the  negotiation  in  London,  fell  on  Mr.  Stuart  Mackenzie,  the  brother  of 
Lord  Bute,  to  whom  Dutens  the  author  of  the  curious  and  interesting  memoirs, 
was  private  secretary. 

The  Dukes  of  Bedford  and  Nivernois  were  selected  as  ambassadors  on  account 
of  their  hi^-h  rank  and  wealth,  as  well  as  from  the  mediocrity  of  their  talents, 
which  rendered  them  well  adapted  for  pageants.  The  British  ambassador  soon 
discovered  the  light  in  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  Minister  at  home,  and 
complained  of  it  somewhat  angrily  to  Lord  Bute  in  his  letter  of  September  20th, 
1762,  in  which  he  asks — "yhat  occasion  there  was  for  sending  a  minister  to  this 
Court,  if  the  whole  was  to  be  transacted  from  ministry  to  ministry  ?  and  why  he 
was  solicited  for  this  contemptible  employment  of  transmitting  projects  only  to 
his  Court,  after  so  long  a  negotiation  which  must  be  finished  soon  or  not  at  all?" 

The  correspondence  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  recently  published  by  his  great- 
grandson  Lord  John  Russell,  throws  much  light  upon  the  progress  of  the  nego 
tiation  a'.  Paris,  as  well  as  upon  subsequent  events  at  London  ;  and  if  it  fails  to 
raise  the  Duke  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  as  a  man  of  capacity,  it  effectually 
vindicates  him  from  the  aspersians  cast  upon  his  private  character,  by  Junius. 


1762.]          PRELIMINARIES    OF    A    TREATY    AGREED    ON.  501 

of  England  and  Portugal  on  the  one  part,  and  those  of  Spain  and 
France  on  the  other,  with  the  understanding  that  they  should  be 
submitted  to  the  British  parliament  for  its  approval;  as  the  minis 
ters  of  that  nation  did  not  choose  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
the  restitution  of  Havanna  on  the  terms  proposed,  or  indeed,  on 
any  terms,  without  such  an  assurance. 

Agreeably  to  the  preliminaries  thus  concluded,  Minorca  was 
to  be  restored  to  Great  Britain,  and  all  the  places  in  Europe  be 
longing  to  either  of  the  parties  before  the  war,  which  were  then 
occupied  by  troops  of  the  other,  were  to  be  immediately  evacua 
ted.  In  the  East  Indies,  the  French  were  to  surrender  to  Great 
Britain,  all  their  possessions  except  a  few  factories  and  trading 
places,  which  they  were  allowed  to  retain,  though  under  condi 
tions  calculated  effectually  to  stifle  all  their  expectations  of  politi 
cal  dominion  in  that  quarter.  In  America,  the  results  were  most 
important.  Great  Britain  restored  to  France,  Guadaloupe  and 
Martinique,  and  to  Spain  all  the  places  conquered  from  her  during 
the  war,  including  Havanna;  in  return  for  which,  Spain  ceded 
Florida  to  Great  Britain,  while  France  surrendered  to  the  same 
power,  her  rights  and  claims  to  Nova  Scotia,  Canada  and  all  other 
parts  of  the  continent  east  of  a  line,  drawn  along  the  Mississippi, 
from  its  source  to  its  outlet  through  the  river  Iberville,  and  thence 
through  the  latter  streanTtmd  the  Lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchar- 
train  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,*  together  with  all  the  islands  in  and  near 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  except  the  two  small  ones  of  St.  Pierre 
and  Miquelon  which  the  French  were  to  retain  for  the  purposes 
of  their  fishery.  The  inhabitants  of  the  territories  thus  ceded  to 
Great  Britain  were  to  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
to  be  protected  in  the  possession  of  their  property ;  and  the  navi- 


*  The  Duke  of  Bedford  was  anxious  to  secure  to  Great  Britain  the  whole  ter 
ritory  east  of  the  Mississippi,  including  New  Orleans ;  and  when  he  found  the 
French  resolved  not  to  cede  that  city,  he  endeavored  to  limit  them  to  its  imme 
diate  environs  :  they  however  insisted  on  the  line  through  the  Iberville  and  the 
Lakes,  which  was  in  the  end  admitted.  "It  is  remarkable,"  writes  the  Duke  to 
the  Earl  of  Egremont  on  the  24th  of  December,  1762,  "that  the  Marquis  of 
Grimaldi  [Spanish  ambassador]  took  a  great  part  in  this  dispute  against  me, 
which  he  has  never  before  done  in  points  solely  French ;  which,  I  own,  increases 
my  suspicion,  that  the  report  I  have  heard,  that  France  intended  to  cede  New- 
Orleans  to  Spain,  has  some  foundation." — Correspondence  of  the  Duke  of  Bed 
ford,  vol.  3,  page  180. 


502       TREATY  OF  PEACE  CONCLUDED  AT  PARIS.     [1763. 

gation  of  the  Mississippi  was  to  be  perpetually  open  to  the  sub 
jects  of  that  power,  and  to  those  of  France,  in  its  whole  length. 
British  subjects  were  not  to  be  disturbed  in  cutting  logwood  in  the 
Bay  of  Honduras,  and  other  parts  of  the  Spanish  territory  in  that 
quarter,  with  which  object  they  might  build  houses  for  residence 
or  for  stores;  though  no  fortifications  could  be  erected,  and  those 
already  standing  were  to  be  demolished. 

These  provisions  were  all  expressed  in  language  the  most  clear 
and  unequivocal ;  the  ministers  who  dictated  them  being  resolved 
to  leave  as  few  points  as  possible,  open  to  attack  in  Parliament. 
They  were  opposed  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Mr.  Pitt,  with 
his  usual  vehemence,  chiefly  on  the  grounds  of  the  surrender  of 
Havanna  to  Spain  and  the  French  West  India  Islands  to  France, 
and  the  assignment  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon  to  the  latter  pow 
er  for  its  fishery,  for  which  he  considered  Florida  and  the  other 
countries  not  already  in  the  possession  of  Great  Britain,  as  an  in 
sufficient  return.  The  preliminaries  were  however  approved  by 
large  majorities  in  both  houses,  and  a  treaty  containing  the  same 
stipulations,  in  the  same  words — a  few  trifling  alterations  except- 
ed — was  accordingly  ratified  by  all  the  parties  at  Paris,  on  the 
10th  of  February,  1763.*  Prussia  and  Austria  in  like  manner 
settled  their  dispute  by  a  treaty  at  Hubertsburg  a  few  days  after 
wards,  and  peace  was  thus  completely  re-established  throughout 
the  civilized  world. 

The  treaty  thus  concluded  at  Paris  in  1763,  was  by  far  more 
important  as  regards  the  New  World,  than  any  other  previous 

*The  principal  provisions  of  the  treaty  respecting  America,  are  as  follows: 
"  ART.  4.  His  Most  Christian  Majesty  renounces  all  pretensions,  which  he  has 
heretofore  formed,  or  might  have  formed,  to  Nova  Scotia  or  Acadia,  in  all  its 
parts,  and  guaranties  the  whole  of  it,  and  with  all  its  dependencies,  to  the  king 
of  Great  Britain.  Moreover,  His  Most  Christian  Majesty  cedes  and  guaranties 
to  His  said  Britannic  Majesty,  in  full  right,  Canada  with  all  its  dependencies,  as 
well  as  the  island  of  Cape  Breton  and  all  the  other  islands  and  coasts  in  the 
Gulf  and  River  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  general  every  thing  that  depends  on  the 
said  countries,  lands,  islands  and  coasts,  with  the  sovereignty,  property,  posses 
sion,  and  all  rights  acquired  by  treaty  or  otherwise,  which  the  Most  Christian 
King  and  the  Crown  of  France  have  had  till  now,  over  the  said  countries,  lands, 
islands,  places,  coasts  and  their  inhabitants;  so  that  the  Most  Christian  King 
cedes  and  makes  over  the  whole  to  the  said  king,  and  to  the  Crown  of  Great 
Britain,  and  that  in  the  most  ample  manner  and  form,  without  restriction,  and 
without  any  liberty  to  depart  from  the  said  cession  and  guarantee,  under  any  pre 
tence,  or  to  disturb  Great  Britain  in  the  possessions  above  mentioned." 


1763.]  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    TREATY    OF    PARIS.  503 

agreement  of  the  same  nature,  since  the  Treaty  of  Partition  of 
1492.  It  established  the  first  line  of  boundary  between  the  pos 
sessions  of  civilized  nations  in  North  America — a  line  eternally 
stamped  on  the  face  of  the  Continent,  extending  through  eighteen 
decrees  of  latitude,  from  the  northernmost  limit  of  its  habitable 

Q  ' 

"  ART.  7.  In  order  to  re-establish  peace  on  solid  and  durable  foundations,  and 
to  remove  forever  all  subject  of  dispute  with  regard  to  the  limits  of  the  British 
and  French  territories  on  the  continent  of  America;  it  is  agreed,  that  for  the 
future,  the  confines  between  the  dominions  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  those 
of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty,  in  that  part  of  the  world,  shall  be  fixed  irrevoca 
bly,  by  a  line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  river  Mississippi,  from  its  source  to 
the  river  Iberville,  and  from  thence  by  a  line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  this 
river,  and  the  lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain  to  the  sea  ;  and  for  this  purpose 
the  Most  Christian  King  cedes  in  full  right,  and  guaranties  to  his  Britannic  Ma 
jesty,  the  river  and  port  of  the  Mobile,  and  everything  which  he  possesses,  or 
ought  to  possess  on  the  left  side  of  the  river  Mississippi,  except  the  town  of  New 
Orleans,  and  the  island  in  which  it  is  situated,  which  shall  remain  to  France ; 
provided  that  the  navigation  of  the  river  Mississippi  shall  be  equally  free,  as 
well  to  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  as  to  those  of  France,  in  its  whole  breadth 
and  length,  from  its  source  to  the  sea,  and  expressly  that  part  which  is  between 
the  said  island  of  New  Orleans  and  the  right  bank  of  that  river,  as  well  as  the 
passage  both  in  and  out  of  its  mouth  :  It  is  farther  stipulated,  that  the  vessels 
belonging  to  the  subjects  of  either  nation  shall  not  be  stopped,  visited,  or  sub 
jected  to  the  payment  of  any  duty  whatsoever." 

"  ART.  17.  His  Britannic  Majesty  shall  cause  to  be  demolished  all  the  fortifi 
cations  which  his  subjects  shall  have  erected  in  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  and  other 
places  of  the  territory  of  Spain  in  that  part  of  the  world,  four  months  after  the 
ratification  of  the  present  treaty  :  and  His  Catholic  Majesty's  subjects,  or  their 
workmen,  are  not  to  be  disturbed  or  molested  under  any  pretence  whatsoever  ii> 
the  said  places,  in  their  occupation  of  cutting,  loading,  and  carrying  away  logwood; 
and  for  this  purpose  they  may  build,  Avithout  hindrance,  and  occupy  without  inter 
ruption,  the  houses  and  magazines  necessary  for  them,  for  their  families,  and  for 
their  effects  ;  and  his  Catholic  Majesty  assures  to  them,  by  this  article,  the  full 
enjoyment  of  those  advantages  and  powers  on  the  Spanish  coasts  and  territories, 
as  above  stipulated,  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty." 

"  ART.  19.  The  King  of  Great  Britain  shall  restore  to  Spain,  all  the  territory 
which  he  has  conquered  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  with  the  fortress  of  Havarma." 

"ART.  20.  In  consequence  of  the  restitution  stipulated  in  the  preceding  arti 
cle,  His  Catholic  Majesty  cedes  and  guaranties,  in  full  right,  to  His  Britannic 
Majesty,  Florida  with  Fort  St.  Augustine  and  the  Bay  of  Pensacola,  as  well  as 
all  that  Spain  possesses  on  the  continent  of  North  America,  to  the  east  or  to  the 
south-east  of  the  river  Mississippi ;  and,  in  general,  every  thing  that  depends 
on  the  said  countries  and  lands,  with  the  sovereignty,  property,  possession,  and 
all  rights  acquired  by  treaties  or  otherwise,  which  the  Catholic  King  and  Crown 
of  Spain  have  had  till  now  over  the  said  countries,  lands,  places  and  their  in 
habitants  ;  so  that  the  Catholic  King  cedes  and  makes  over  the  whole  to  the  said 
king,  and  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  in  the  most  ample  manner  and 
form." 


504    ADVANTAGES     OF    THE    TREATY    TO   GREAT    BRITAIN.     [1763. 

territory  to  the  Mexican  Gulf.  "  The  confines  between  the  do 
minions  of  His  Britannic  Majesty,  and  those  of  His  Most  Chris 
tian  Majesty,  in  that  part  of  the  world,"  says  the  treaty,  "  shall 
be  fixed  irrevocably,  by  a  line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the 
river  Mississippi,  from  its  source  to  the  river  Iberville,  and  from 
thence  by  a  line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  this  river  and  the 
Lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain  to  the  sea."  All  lying  east 
of  this  line  was  secured  to  Great  Britain,  and  the  countries  ceded 
were  moreover  each  specially  named  and  described,  in  terms  so 
exact,  as  to  leave  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  their  meaning  in  any 
case;  nothing  being  reserved  for  subsequent  determination  by 
commissaries,  or  in  any  other  way.  With  regard  to  the  territory 
west  of  the  great  boundary,  nothing  is  said  in  the  Treaty  of 
Paris.  North  of  this  territory,  as  well  as  of  those  ceded  by 
France  on  the  east,  Great  Britain  likewise  possessed  all  the  re 
gions  drained  by  streams  entering  into  Hudson's  Bay,  the  south 
ernmost  sources  of  which,  were  situated  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  head-waters  of  those  falling  into  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
Lakes  and  the  Mississippi ;  and  the  right  to  this  portion  of 
America,  was  secured  beyond  question  to  Great  Britain,  by  the 
Treaty  of  Utrecht  which  was  renewed  and  confirmed  by  the 
Paris  treaty.  To  have  attempted  to  determine  the  line  of  sepa 
ration  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  territory,  and  that  which  was 
left  to  France  west  of  the  Mississippi,  would  have  been  useless 
at  that  time,  when  the  countries  through  which  it  might  be 
supposed  to  pass,  were  utterly  unexplored;  especially  as  the 
terms  of  the  two  treaties  above  mentioned,  showed  with  perfect 
distinctness,  that  this  boundary  must  run  along  the  ridge  or  height 
of  land  separating  the  streams  falling  into  Hudson's  Bay  from 
those  flowing  to  the  Mississippi,  westward  as  far  as  the  claims 
of  the  two  nations  might  extend. 

The  boundary  between  Louisiana  and  the  Mexican  provinces, 
long  before  informally  adopted  by  the  people  and  the  authorities 
of  those  countries,  still  remained  unchanged,  either  by  removal, 
or  by  extension,  or  by  diminution.  Natch itoches  arid  Adayes 
were  still  the  only  settlements  of  the  two  nations  sufficiently  near 
to  each  other,  to  render  any  determination  of  limits  necessary; 
and  the  Arroyo  Hondo,  running  midway  between  them,  was  still 
respected  as  separating  the  jurisdictions  of  their  commandants. 


1763.]  NEW    FORTS     ESTABLISHED    IN    TEXAS.  505 

Natehitoches,  was  however,  the  source  of  great  and  constant 
annoyance  to  the  Spaniards,  as  from  that  place,  the  wild  Indians 
received  the  principal  portion  of  the  arms  arid  ammunition 
which  they  employed  in  their  attacks  on  the  frontier  settlements 
of  Mexico  ;  the  remainder  being  supplied  by  the  French  vessels, 
which  frequented  the  coast  of  Texas,  especially  those  of  the  great 
basin,  now  known  as  Galveston  Bay,  receiving  the  waters  of  the 
Trinity  and  several  other  rivers.  The  Spanish  Government  ad 
dressed  many  remonstrances  to  that,  of  France,  with  the  object 
of  obtaining  some  relief  from  these  evils,  either  by  the  suppres 
sion  of  the  trade  with  the  Indians,  or  by  the  abandonment  of 
Natchitoches;  and  when  it  was  found  that  no  favorable  results 
could  be  obtained  in  this  way,  orders  were  given  to  the  Viceroy 
of  Mexico,  to  establish  a  line  of  fortified  posts  along  the  whole 
northern  and  western  frontiers  of  Texas.  With  this  object,  after 
numerous  consultations,  a  fort  was  at  length  established  in  1751, 
on  the  San  Xavier,  a  branch  of  the  Guadalupe,  which  was  how 
ever,  soon  after  abandoned,  from  the  want  of  water  and  pasture, 
for  another  place  farther  north-west,  on  the  San  S;  ba,  one  of  the 
headwaters  of  the  Colorado.  A  post  was  also  formed  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Bay  of  Galveston,  which  was  called  San  Agustin 
de  Ahumada,  after  the  family  name  of  the  Viceroy  Marquis  de 
las  Amarillas;  but  it  was  consumed  by  fire,  and  another  spot 
was  selected,  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  since  celebrated  as  the 
San  Jacinto,  where  Fort  Orcoquizas  was  founded  in  1757.  To 
each  of  these  forts,  a  mission  was  attached;  and  those  already 
established  in  the  vicinity  of  San  Antonio  de  Bexar  were  enlarged 
by  the  erection  of  the  extensive  and  magnificent  buildings  of 
stone,  which  still  excite  the  admiration  of  the  traveller. 

The  attempts  of  the  Spaniards  to  restrain  the  Indians  in  Texas 
by  these  means,  proved  wholly  abortive.  On  the  22nd  of  March, 
1758,  the  mission  near  Fort  San  Saba,  was  surprised  by  a  band 
of  those  barbarians,  who  sacked  and  destroyed  it,  after  putting 
to  death  nearly  all  its  inmates;  and  the  efforts  of  the  Comman 
dant  of  the  fort,  were  insufficient  to  induce  his  men  to  sally  forth 
against  the  invaders.  Great  consternation  was  produced  by  this 
event,  and  various  were  the  plans  proposed  in  consequence  at 
Mexico;  until  it  was  at  length  determined,  in  a  Council  of  war, 
that  the  Indians  should  be  chastised  for  their  audacity  in  a  man- 
64 


506  CONDITION     OF    TEXAS    NOT    IMPROVED.  [1763. 

ncr  calculated  effectually  to  prevent  the  repetition  of  such  at 
tacks.  For  this  object,  more  than  five  hundred  men  were  sent 
from  San  Antonio,  in  August,  1759,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Diego  Ortiz  Parilla  the  Governor  of  Texas,  who  march 
ing  northward,  discovered  a  large  body  of  Indians  encamped  in 
a  fortified  enclosure  near  the  sources  of  the  Trinity  river.  The 
Spaniards  being  well  provided  with  artillery,  immediately  ad 
vanced  to  assault  the  place;  they  were  however, — like  the  French 
in  the  great  expedition  against  the  Chickasa  towns,  twenty-five 
years  previous, — repulsed  and  completely  routed,  all  their  baggage, 
ammunition  and  six  pieces  of  cannon  remaining  in  the  hands  of 
the  savages;  and  Parilla  was  unable  to  collect  his  forces  again, 
until  he  reached  San  Antonio. 

The  expenses  of  these  establishments  in  Texas  were  enormous ; 
yet  the  reports  of  the  various  commissioners,  civil,  military  and 
ecclesiastical,  sent  from  time  to  time  to  inspect  them,  are  filled 
with  «u  counts  of  their  wretched  and  inefficient  condition.  The 
missions  were  often  without  a  single  convert;  the  forts  were  in 
ruins,  and  the  soldiers,  though  well  paid,  were  sunk  in  sloth  and 
misery,  ragged  and  starving,  where  the  slightest  exertion  on  their 
parts,  would  have  enabled  them  to  live  in  comfort.  These  ex 
penses  were  not  however  always  borne  by  the  government,  which 
was  occasionally  relieved  from  a  portion  of  the  burthen,  by  the 
enterprise  or  the  pious  and  disinterested  liberality  of  individuals. 
The  convents  contributed  largely,  especially  those  of , the  Fancis- 
can  order,  of  San  Fernando  in  Mexico,  Santa  Cruz  in  Queretaroy 
and  Guadalupe  in  Zacatecas,  from  which  the  greater  part  of  the 
missionaries  were  despatched.  D.  Jose  de  Escandon  still  prose 
cuted,  at  great  cost,  his  efforts  to  settle  the  territories  adjoining  the 
coast  north  of  Tampico;  and  about  this  time,  he  founded  Camargo, 
Revilla  and  Laredo,  on  the  Rio  Bravo,  the  latter  seven  hundred 
miles  from  its  mouth,  with  several  other  places,  none  of  which 
have  since  risen  above  the  rank  of  poor  villages.  In  1758  more 
over,  Don  Pedro  de  Terreros,  the  owner  of  extensive  silver  mines 
in  Mexico,  offered  to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  the  missions  in 
Texas  for  three  years ;  and  having  done  so,  he,  at  the  end  of  that 
period,  received  the  title  of  Conde  de  Regla,  as  a  reward  for  his 
patriotic  sacrifices.  But  these  efforts  served  only  to  add  a  few 


CHAPTER    XV 


1763    TO     1770. 


FLORIDA  AND  EASTERN  LOUISIANA  SURRENDERED  TO  GREAT 
BRITAIN — D'ABADIE  DIRECTOR  GENERAL  OF  LOUISIANA — 
ESTABLISHMENT  OF  FIVE  NEW  BRITISH  PROVINCES  IN 
AMERICA — ULLOA  ARRIVES  IN  LOUISIANA,  AS  SPANISH 
COMMISSIONER  TO  RECEIVE  THE  POSSESSION — OPPOSITION 
OF  THE  PEOPLE  TO  THE  TRANSFER — EXPULSION  OF  ULLOA — 
ATTEMPTS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  LOUISIANA  TO  PLACE  THEM 
SELVES  UNDER  THE  PROTECTION  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN ARRI 
VAL  OF  A  LARGE  SPANISH  FORCE  UNDER  O'REILLY,  WHO 
TAKES  POSSESSION  OF  LOUISIANA,  AND  PUTS  TO  DEATH  THE 

LEADERS  OF  THE  OPPOSITION  TO  SPAIN EXTENT  AND  LIMITS 

OF  LOUISIANA  AS  THUS  SURRENDERED  BY  FRANCE  TO  SPAIN. 

THE  treaty  concluded  at  Paris  in  February,  1763,  was  followed 
by  fifteen  years  of  peace,  unbroken  though  often  threatened  with 
rupture,  between  the  parties ;  and  time  was  thus  afforded  for  the 
developement  of  new  circumstances,  which  led  to  great  moral 
and  political  revolutions,  first  in  America,  and  afterwards  among 
the  nations  of  Europe,  from  which  the  New  World  derived  its 
civilized  population. 

The  history  of  these  revolutions,  is  interwoven  with  that  of  the 
countries,  to  which  the  present  work  chiefly  relates.  In  fact,  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  which  transferred  the  greater  and  better  portion 
of  those  countries  from  Spain  and  France  to  Great  Britain, 
planted  the  first  seeds  of  the  changes;  for  by  increasing  the  re 
sources  of  the  colonies  of  the  latter  power,  and  removing  all 
apprehensions  of  danger  from  foreign  enemies,  it  rendered  those 


510  PLANS    OF    THE    BRITISH    GOVERNMENT.  [1763. 

colonies  less  dependant  upon  the  mother  country,  and  less  patient 
of  its  authority.  This  effect,  had  been,  as  already  shown,  fore 
seen  in  England;  and  the  Government,  adopting  the  idea,  began 
immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  to  devise  means 
for  regulating — that  is  restraining — the  advancement  of  the  Ameri 
can  colonies,  as  the  only  alternative  for  preventing  their  separa 
tion  from  the  mother  country,  which  otherwise  seemed  inevitable 
if  not  imminent.  Lord  Bute  withdrew  from  the  responsibility  of 
such  measures,  by  resigning  his  place  in  the  ministry,  in  April, 
1763  ;  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  George  Grenville,  who  with 
greater  boldness,  or  rather  rashness,  undertook  the  task  of  ren 
dering  the  American  colonies,  then  containing  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  thousand  white  inhabitants,*  sensible  that  they  were  not 
independent  Republics,  by  requiring  their  submission  to  contri 
butions  and  restrictions  imposed  by  a  Legislature,  in  which  they 
were  not  represented.  These  measures  and  their  consequences 
are  now  well  known;  but  it  will  be  necessary  occasionally  to 
advert  to  them  here,  on  account  of  their  influence  on  the  destinies 
of  the  countries  more  particularly  in  question. 

The  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  Paris,  respecting  territories  in 
America,  were  too  definite  to  afford  any  room  for  doubt  as  to 
their  meaning;  and  the  losing  parties  were  neither  of  them,  in  a 
situation  to  oppose  or  delay  the  execution.  Canada  had  been 
for  three  years  in  the  possession  of  the  English,  whose  flng 
waved  over  every  post  from  Louisbourg  to  Mackinac ;  and  Ha- 
vanna  was  held  by  the  same  power,  in  pledge,  if  necessary  for 
the  surrender  of  Florida.  The  French  inhabitants  of  Canada 
then  numbered  about  eighty  thousand,*  nearly  all  of  whom  resided 
on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  below  its  rapids;  and  their 
character  was  not  such,  as  to  give  any  cause  for  uneasiness  to 
the  new  lords  of  the  dominion.  The  countries  of  the  Lakes  and 
the  Ohio,  and  the  remainder  of  Louisiana  ceded  to  England, 
were  by  far  more  fertile  and  valuable  in  every  respect,  than  the 
portion  retained  by  France  west  of  the  great  line  of  boundary,  and 
they  contained  probably  more  than  half  of  the  population  of  the 
whole  province:  but  these  people  were  scattered  over  a  wide 
space,  and  could  make  no  resistance;  and  large  numbers  of 
them  prepared,  immediately  on  learning  the  terms  of  the  peace,  to 

.*"  These  numbers  are  given  on  doubtful  authorities. 


1763.]       OUTBREAK    OF    THE     INDIANS    UNDER    PONTIAC.  511 

retire  beyond  the  Mississippi.  The  portion  of  Florida  which 
Spain  had  to  cede  was  of  little  value  agriculturally;  its  inhabi 
tants,  other  than  Indians,  were  few,  and  these  would  probably 
nearly  all  quit  the  country  upon  its  surrender  to  the  English :  but 
its  possession  by  the  latter  was  important  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
regions  farther  north,  to  which  it  opened  a  long  line  of  coast, 
embracing  the  mouths  of  several  large  rivers.  Why  the  British 
Government,  when  holding  France  and  Spain  at  its  mercy,  did 
not  also  insist  upon  the  cession  of  New  Orleans,  cannot  be  ex 
plained  satisfactorily,  except  upon  the  supposition  of  a  desire  to 
check  the  advancement  of  the  interior  countries,  by  leaving  that 
key  of  the  Mississippi,  and  only  site  for  a  commercial  emporium 
upon  its  waters,  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy. 

No  apprehensions  being  entertained  by  the  British  Government, 
of  resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  treaty  by  France  or  Spain, 
Havanna  was  surrendered  on  the  7th  of  July  by  Keppel,  to  the 
Spanish  Commissioners  Conde  de  Ricla  and  General  O'Reilly. 
General  Gage  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in 
North  America,  was-  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  preparations 
for  taking  possession  of  Florida  and  the  Illinois  countries  ;  when 
information  was  received  of  a  general  outbreak  among  the  Indians 
of  the  north-west,  who  had  almost  simultaneously  captured  Ve- 
nango,  Presqu'ile,  Mackinac,  arid  every  other  post  in  that  quarter, 
except  Niagara,  Detroit  and  Fort  Pitt,  and  put  to  death  nearly 
all  their  inmates.  These  disasters  were  the  result  of  a  conspi 
racy,  for  the  destruction  of  the  English,  embracing  all  the  savage 
nations  of  the  Lakes  and  Ohio  countries,  between  Lake  Ontario 
and  the  Illinois.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  conceived  or 
fomented  by  the  French,  although  the  Illinois  tribes,  most  nearly 
connected  with  those  people,  remained  neutral ;  the  head  of  the 
enterprise  was  however,  an  Ottawa  Chief,  named  Pontiac,  who 
had  been  distinguished  for  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  France, 
and  for  his  courage  and  success  in  the  late  war  against  the  Eng 
lish.  The  influence  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  prevented  the  Six 
Nations  from  joining  in  the  attack,  except  the  Senecas,  dwelling 
between  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  who  for  some  time  held  Fort 
Niagara  closely  besieged.  Pontiac  himself  directed  the  attempt 
upon  Detroit,  which  was  frustrated  by  the  energy  of  the  Com 
mandant  Major  Gladwin ;  Mackinac  was  taken  on  the  4th  of 


512  FLORIDA    SURRENDERED    TO    THE    BRITISH.  [1763. 

June,  by  the  Sacs  and  Chippewas,  large  numbers  of  whom  were 
admitted  into  the  fort  by  the  incautious  Major  Etherington,  while 
the  remainder  were  engaged  in  a  game  of  ball  on  an  adjoining 
field,  with  the  garrison  as  spectators. 

General  Gage  immediately  despatched  Captains  Dalyell  and 
Grant,  with  three  hundred  men,  for  the  relief  of  Detroit,  while 
Colonel  Bouquet  proceeded  with  a  larger  number  towards  Fort 
Pitt.  The  former  party  wrere  wraylaid  by  Pontiac,  near  the  place 
of  their  destination,  and  many  of  them,  including  Dalyell,  were 
killed  ere  the  remainder  under  Grant  could  reach  the  fort:  Bou 
quet,  after  a  severe  battle  with  the  savages  at  Bushy-run  near 
Fort  Pitt,  reached  that  place  with  little  loss  ;  but  he  was  unable 
to  take  the  field  from  want  of  supplies  until  the  following  summer. 
The  excitement  among  the  Indians  extended  southward  through 
the  western  portions  of  Virginia  and  Carolina  :  the  Cherokees 
indeed  remained  quiet  ;  but  the  Muscoghees  or  Creeks,  crossed 
the  Savannah  in  December,  1763,  and  attacked  a  settlement  called 
the  Long-canes  on  a  small  stream  of  the  same  name,  emptying 
into  that  river,  from  which  they  were  gallantly  repulsed  by  the 
people,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Patrick  Calhoun,*  though  not 
until  they  had  killed  several  of  the  settlers. 

These  difficulties  with  the  Indians  prevented  the  British  from 
taking  possession  of  the  countries  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  for 
two  years.  Colonel  Robinson  was  however  despatched  from 
New  York  to  St.  Augustine,  which  was  surrendered  to  him  by  the 
Spanish  Commandant  in  the  beginning  of  October,  1763.  The 
place  was  then  said,  to  contain  about  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
principally  negroes,  in  addition  to  twenty-five  hundred  soldiers  : 
these  people  were  at  first  disposed  to  remain  in  the  country  ; 
they  however  soon  became  dissatisfied,  and  retired  with  the  sol 
diers  to  Cuba,  where  lands  w^ere  granted  to  them  near  Matanzas. 
Pensacola  was  about  the  same  time  given  up  to  Colonel  Prevost, 
who  arrived  there  with  a  battalion  of  three  hundred  men  from 
Havanna :  the  town  had  been  rebuilt  at  the  western  extremity 
of  Santa  Rosa  Island,  after  the  restoration  by  the  French  in  1722  ; 
but  this  site  was  abandoned,  in  consequence  of  the  destruction  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  houses  by  the  waves,  during  a  storm  in 
1754,  and  another  was  selected  on  the  western  shore  of  the  bay 

*  Father  of  the  Hon.  John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina. 


1763.]  DELIVERY    OF    MOBILE    TO    THE    BRITISH.  513 

eight  miles  from  its  entrance,  where  Pensacola  has  ever  since 
Stood.  It  contained  only  a  small  number  of  inhabitants,  all  of 
whom  departed  with  the  garrison  to  Cuba,  immediately  after  the 
surrender  to  the  English :  and  as  a  similar  emigration  took  place 
from  St.  Marks,  the  English  were  soon  the  only  people  in  the 
country  of  European  descent. 

On  the  20th  of  the  same  month  of  October,  Major  Robert 
Farmer  who  had  been  also  despatched  from  Havanna,  received 
formal  possession  of  the  town  and  fort  of  Mobile,  from  the  French 
Commandant  Pierre  Annibal  de  Velle,  and  the  acting  Commis 
sary  Jean  Gabriel  Fazende.  On  the  23rd  of  November,  Fort 
Tombechbe  was  surrendered  by  its  chief  officer  Captain  Pierre 
Chabert,  to  Lieutenant  Thomas  Ford  ;  and  Fort  Toulouse  at  the 
junction  of  the  Coosa  and  Talipoosa  branches  of  the  Alabama, 
was  soon  after  delivered  to  the  English,  by  its  commandant  the 
Chevalier  de  la  Noue.  The  French  withdrew  from  these  latter 
places  almost  entirely ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  they 
were  followed  by  the  Muscoghee  tribe  of  the  Alibamons,  dwell 
ing  around  Fort  Toulouse,  and  by  the  remnant  of  the  Taensas, 
who  had  resided  near  the  junction  of  the  Alabama  and  Tom 
bechbe  rivers,  ever  since  their  expulsion  from  their  old  seat  on 
the  Mississippi  in  1706.  The  Taensas  were  established  by  the 
Government  of  Louisiana,  in  the  country  of  the  Opelousas — more 
properly  Okelousas  or  Black-waters, — which  had  then  been  re 
cently  explored  by  M.  Marigny  de  Mandeville;  and  a  post  called 
Fort  Opelousas,  was  founded  in  their  vicinity,  on  the  Vermillion 
river,  fifty  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi,  where  the  town  of  the 
same  name  now  stands.  The  Alibamons,  were  placed  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  near  the  old  towns  of  the  Hou- 
mas,  about  seventy  miles  above  New  Orleans. 

In  the  meantime  the  cession  of  Louisiana  by  France  to  Spain, 
though  rumored  in  Paris  immediately  after  it  took  place,  had  not 
been  officially  proclaimed  by  the  Government  of  either  of  the 
parties.  It  appears  indeed  to  have  been  positively  denied  by  the 
French  Ministry  on  an  occasion,  on  which  it  certainly  ought  to 
have  been  communicated  ;  for  M.  D'Abadie,  who  was  appointed 
Commandant  and  Director  General  of  Louisiana,  in  place  of 
Kerlerec,  in  the  spring  of  1763,  certainly  quitted  France  under  the 
conviction,  that  the  report  of  the  cession  was  entirely  groundless. 
65 


514  SPAIN    HESITATES    TO    ACCEPT    LOUISIANA.  [1763. 

This  silence  of  the  two  Governments  and  the  subsequent  de 
lays  in  the  consummation  of  the  transfer,  were  occasioned,  as 
may  be  here  said  in  anticipation,  by  the  unwillingness  on  the  part 
of  King  Charles  III.  of  Spain,  to  accept  the  territory  thus  offered 
to  him  by  his  cousin  of  France.  The  Catholic  Monarch  was  then 
endeavoring  ardently  and  sincerely,  to  retrieve  his  dominions, 
from  the  languid  and  disordered  condition,  into  which  they  had 
sunk;  and  for  this  object,  his  attention  was  chiefly  directed  to  the 
augmentation  of  the  public  revenues,  and  diminution  of  the  ex 
penditures,  which,  according  to  Spanish  ideas  of  political  econo 
my,  could  only  be  effected,  "by  more  strictly  enforcing  the  old 
prohibitory  system,  especially  with  regard  to  the  transatlantic 
colonies.  New  taxes  wrere  to  be  laid  on  the  people  of  those 
countries,  who  were  also  to  be  farther  restricted  in  commerce  and 
manufactures,  so  as  to  secure  the  monopoly  of  both  to  the  mother 
country  ;  and  new  settlements  and  fortifications  were  to  be  made, 
where  they  might,  more  effectually  bind  the  colonies  together, 
and  render  them  defensible  against  foreign  enemies.  For 
these  purposes,  large  expenditures  would  be  required  in  the  first 
instance  ;  and  doubts  were  reasonably  entertained  by  the  Spanish 
Government,  wrhether  it  would  be  politic  to  add  to  its  dominions, 
a  large  tract  of  territory  inhabited  only  by  a  few  people  of  another 
nation,  and  almost  unexplored,  from  which  no  return  could  be 
expected  during  a  long  period,  if  ever,  for  the  cost  of  maintaining 
the  possession.  The  countries  adjoining  the  Gulf  and  the  Mis 
sissippi  could  not  be  rendered  fit  for  cultivation  without  a  vast 
previous  outlay  for  drainage  and  embankments  ;  and  those  of  the 
interior  were  too  remote,  from  the  seats  of  Spanish  power,  for 
their  protection  against  the  all-encroaching  English.  In  fine, 
the  only  real  advantage  which  the  Spanish  Government  could  ex 
pect  to  derive  from  the  possession  of  this  territory,  would  be  by- 
keeping  it,  as  a  desert  between  the  English  and  the  precious  pro 
vinces  of  Mexico  ;  which  would  be  as  effectually  attained  by  leav 
ing  it  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  without  subjecting  the  Catho 
lic  Monarch,  to  the  expenses  of  maintaining  the  colony  and  to  the 
danger  of  new  disputes  with  the  English. 

Another  circumstance  contributed  to  render  the  King  of  Spain 
unwilling  to  accept  the  possession  as  offered  by  France.  The 
debt  of  the  province, —  that  is  to  say,  the  debt  of  the  French 


1763.]  KERLEREC    IMPRISONED    IN    THE     BASTILE.  515 

Government  on  account  of  the  province — due  almost  entirely  to 
its  inhabitants,  exceeded  seven  millions  of  livres,  or  about  twelve 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  the  evidences  of  which  existed  in  pa 
per  money,  in  bons  or  due  bills  issued,  as  already  shown,  by  the 
provincial  authorities,  in  bills  of  exchange  drawn  on  the  Govern 
ment  in  redemption  of  the  bons  and  returnecLunpaid,  and  in  certifi 
cates  of  loans  arbitrarily  exacted  after  the  refusal  of  the  Govern 
ment  to  acquit  the  amount  of  the  bons  and  bills  of  exchange. 
The  unprincipled  Duke  de  Choiseul,  who  then  directed  the  affairs 
of  France  without  control  or  question,  as  Vizier  to  the  indolent, 
voluptuous  Sultan  Louis  XV.,  was  determined  never  to  pay  this 
debt;  and  with  that  view,  he  began  by  seeking  what  portions 
might  be  repudiated,  on  the  grounds  of  informality  or  of  knavery 
in  their  issue.  A  commission  was  accordingly  instituted,  to  ex 
amine  the  conduct  of  the  Governor  Kerlerec,  of  the  Royal  Com 
missary  Rochemore,  wrho  had  been  displaced  upon  the  represen 
tations  of  the  Governor,  and  of  his  successor  M.  Foucault ;  and 
this  commission  having  reported,  that  Kerlerec  had  been  guilty 
of  malversation  of  the  sums  raised  by  the  Commissaries  agreea 
bly  to  his  demands,  as  well  as  of  many  other  acts  of  fraud  or  vio 
lence,  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Bastile  immediately  on  arriving 
in  France.  The  Minister  having  in  this  manner  proved,  or  at 
least  rendered  it  probable  or  possible,  that  a  large  number  of  the 
bons  might  have  been  given  without  a  proper  consideration,  ob 
tained  a  pretext  for  deferring  the  payment  of  any  of  them,  until 
he  should  be  enabled  openly  to  reject  them  all,  after  the  surren 
der  of  Louisiana  and  its  peoplej  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards. 
The  Catholic  Monarch  was  however  desirous,  that  this  business 
should  be  settled  before  he  took  possession  of  the  country,  in 
order  that  he  might  be  freed  from  all  embarrassments  and  impor 
tunities  on  account  of  the  debt,  for  which  he  was  resolved  not  to 
become  in  any  way  responsible. 

M.  D'Abadie  the  new  Director  General  of  Louisiana,  landed 
at  New  Orleans  on  the  29th  of  June,  1763.  Like  all  his  prede 
cessors,  he  found  the  condition  of  the  country  much  worse  than 
he  had  anticipated  ;  and  his  first  letters  were,  like  those  of  Kerle 
rec,  Vaudreuil  and  the  olhers,  filled  with  details  of  the  indolence, 
drunkenness,  and  misery  of  the  people,  the  knavery  of  the 
Government  officers,  and  the  neglect  and  recklessness  every 


516  EMBARRASSMENTS    OF    GOVERNOR    D5ABADIE.          [1763. 

where  apparent.  He  was  immediately  surrounded  by  complain 
ants  and  claimants  of  all  classes,  and  on  all  accounts,  chiefly 
however,  by  the  holders  of  paper-money,  Government  bons,  re 
turned  bills  of  exchange,  and  certificates  of  loans,  which  were  all 
three  hundred  per  cent,  below  par.  In  answer  to  their  questions 
and  prayers  for  relief^  he  could  only  offer  them  new  paper- money, 
the  issue  of  which,  merely  served  to  depreciate  the  value  of  what 
was  already  on  hand  ;  and  this  produced  a  formal  remonstrance 
from  the  principal  merchants  of  the  colony,  couched  in  terms  of 
insubordination  so  strong  and  unequivocal,  as  greatly  to  shock 
the  feelings  of  the  loyal  Governor. 

This  tone  of  independence,  or  more  properly  indifference,  which 
he  soon  found  every  where  prevailing,  was  regarded  by  M. 
D'Abadie  as  ominous  of  evil:  in  order  to  repress  it,  he  pro 
posed  to  fill  all  the  offices  of  the  colony  by  natives  of  France  of 
approved  fidelity  to  the  crown  ;  and  writh  this  view,  he  recom 
mended  the  immediate  removal  of  several  Creole  members  of  the 
Council,  and  especially  of  M.  Chauvin  de  Lafreniere,  an  emi 
nent  and  influential  lawyer  of  New  Orleans,  who  had  been  re 
cently  appointed  Attorney  General.  In  order  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  province,  he  could  devise  no  means  more  effec 
tive,  than  that  of  conceding  to  Frenchmen,  monopolies  of  all  the 
branches  of  commerce  and  industry,  which  could  be  subjected  to 
such  restrictions  :  and  he  accordingly  obtained  the  privilege  of 
executing  all  the  printing  in  the  country,  for  M.  Braud,  who  un 
der  this  protection,  established  the  first  press  at  New  Orleans  in 
1764;  while  the  whole  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  Missouri  and 
the  upper  Mississippi,  was  in  like  manner  secured  to  a  company 
of  individuals,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Pierre  Ligueste  Laclede. 
This  latter  concession  proved  most  advantageous  to  Louisiana, 
as  well  as  to  those  to  whom  it  was  made.  Laclede  a  man  of 
capital  and  energy,  immediately  proceeded  up  the  Mississippi, 
where  he  founded  several  trading  posts  on  that  river  and  on  the 
Missouri,  near  their  junction;  and  these  posts  were  soon  converted 
inlo  settlements,  on  the  evacuation  of  the  Illinois  by  the  French, 
who  would  probably  have  remained  in  the  latter  territory  under 
the  dominion  of  Great  Britain,  without  the  new  support  thus  of 
fered  to  them  among  their  countrymen,  on  the  western  side  of 
the  Mississippi. 


1764.]  EXPULSION    OF    THE    JESUITS.  517 

The  dispute  between  the  Capuchins  and  Jesuits,  which  had  so 
long  agitated  New  Orleans,  was  at  this  time  ended  in  a  summary 
manner,  by  the  ejection  of  the  disciples  of  Loyola  from  the  coun 
try.  This  celebrated  order  had  been  long  the  object  of  the  attacks 
of  the  philosophers  of  France,  who  assailed  it  by  arguments, 
by  examples  drawn  from  history,  and  by  ridicule  ;  and  it  also  in 
time,  excited  the  jealousy  of  Governments,  especially  of  those 
most  despotic  and  most  devoted  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
After  many  attempts  had  been  made  in  vain,  to  procure  their 
suppression  by  the  Pope,  the  Marquis  de  Pombal,  who  ruled  Por 
tugal  with  an  iron  rod  in  the  name  of  its  imbecile  sovereign  Jo 
seph  I.  caused  all  the  Jesuits  to  be  expelled  from  those  dominions, 
in  September,  1759,  and  all  their  property  to  be  confiscated.  In 
France,  the  Duke  de  Choiseul  was  no  less  inimical  to  them  ;  and 
their  whole  order  was  brought  into  farther  discredit,  by  the  expo 
sure  of  some  commercial  transactions  of  a  nature  by  no  means 
creditable,  in  which  it  had  been  engaged.  At  length  the  Parlia 
ment  of  Paris,  by  a  Decree  of  August  6th,  1762,  declared  their 
proceedings  abuses,  and  forbade  them  longer  to  reside  or  act  to 
gether  as  a  community  ;  and  this  being  found  ineffectual,  another 
Decree  was  issued  on  the  9th  of  March,  1764,  by  which  they 
were  obliged  to  quit  all  the  French  territories  within  a  month 
after  the  notice.  The  execution  of  this  order  in  Louisiana,  was 
accompanied  by  no  incidents  worthy  of  note.  The  fine  establish 
ment  and  grounds  of  the  Jesuits  immediately  adjoining  New  Or 
leans  on  the  west,  were  sold  for  nearly  a  million  of  livres  to  a  M, 
Pradel;  the  place  afterwards  came  into  the  possession  of  Bertrand 
Gravier,  who  divided  it  into  lots,  and  thus  formed  the  Faubourg 
Sainte  Marie,  now  included  in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Municipali 
ties  of  that  city.  Their  lands  and  buildings  at  Kaskaskia, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  Illinois,  were  in  like  manner  confiscated 
and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  French  treasury,  although  that 
country  no  longer  belonged  to  France;  the  purchaser  M.  Beau- 
vais,  however,  did  not  obtain  the  possession  of  the  property,  as 
the  English  authorities,  after  occupying  the  country,  refused  to 
admit  the  validity  of  the  sale. 

Whatsoever  may  have  been  the  faults  or  crimes  of  the  Jesuits 
in  Europe,  their  presence  in  America  seems  to  have  been  every 
where  attended  with  good.  They  failed  indeed  every  where,, 


518  ATTACK    ON    MAJOR    LOFTUS.  [1764. 

except  in  Paraguay,  in  attaining  the  end  for  which  they  always 
labored — the  establishment  of  a  community  of  natives,  under  the 
exclusive  direction  of  their  order:  but  they  always  protected  the 
poor  Aborigines  against, their  white  oppressors,  and  softened  and 
humanized  both  parties,  by  their  patient  and  self-denying  conduct, 
and  their  conciliatory  measures;  while  to  their  researches,  the 
world  is  indebted  for  the  earliest  exact  accounts  of  many  distant 
regions,  into  which  they  penetrated,  in  defiance  of  the  most  ap 
palling  perils  and  privations. 

To  the  Jesuits,  Louisiana  owes  the  introduction  of  the  sugar 
cane,  which  was  brought  by  members  of  their  order  from  St. 
Domingo,  in  1751,  and  planted  on  their  estate,  near  New  Orleans. 
Experience  having  shown  the  soil  and  climate  of  that  region  to 
be  favorable  to  its  growth,  several  planters,  particularly  Messrs. 
Dubreuil  and  Destrehan,  engaged  in  its  cultivation;  and  in  1763 
a  cargo  of  the  sugar  was  shipped  for  France.  Unfortunately, 
however,  from  some  defect  in  the  manufacture,  its  crystalization 
was  so  incomplete,  that  nearly  the  whole  of  it  leaked  from  the 
hogshead  in  the  form  of  molasses ;  and  for  more  than  thirty  years 
afterwards,  the  quantity  made  in  Louisiana  was  never  more  than 
sufficient  for  the  supply  of  the  province,  and  generally  much  les§. 

The  surrender  of  the  territories  ceded  to  the  British  by  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  was  a  source  of  deep  mortification  to  M.  D'Abadie; 
particularly  as  it  brought  those  meddling  rivals  of  France  into 
the  very  heart  of  Louisiana,  in  virtue  of  their  right  to  navigate 
the  Mississippi  in  its  whole  length. 

For  the  occupation  of  Natchez,  Major  Loftus  was  sent  from 
Pensacola  to  the  Mississippi,  with  three  hundred  men,  and  some 
women  and  children,  with  whom  he  quitted  New  Orleans,  in 
ten  boats,  for  the  place  of  their  destination,  on  the  27th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1764.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  small  escort  of  French, 
who  left  them  at  Pointe  Coupee  ;  they  then  continued  their  voy 
age  without  interruption,  as  far  as  the  Rocher  a  Davion — the  cliffs 
so  often  mentioned  in  the  preceding  pages,  a  little  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Red  river,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Mississippi — 
where  they  on  the  20th  of  March,  received  a  volley  of  musketry 
from  unseen  hands,  which  killed  six  of  their  number  and  wounded 
seven  others.  This  unexpected  attack  disconcerted  the  English 
commander,  who  considering  it  imprudent  to  proceed  farther, 


1764.]  THE    INDIANS     SUBDUKD    BY    THE    BRITISH.  519 

returned  to  Manchac,  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Iberville, 
and  thence  despatched  an  officer  to  New  Orleans,  to  represent 
the  affair  to  the  Governor.  D'Abadie  denied  all  knowledge  of 
the  authors  of  the  outrage,  who  were  supposed  by  him  to  be  In 
dians;  but  the  Governor  of  Florida  was  so  little  satisfied  with 
these  assurances,  that  he  recalled  Loitus  and  his  men  from  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  occupation  of  Natchez,  was  also 'deferred 
until  the  following  year.  The  Rocher  a  Davion  was  so  called, 
as  already  stated,  after  the  courageous  missionary  Father  Davion, 
who  resided  there  among  the  Tunica  Indians,  during  the  first 
twenty  years  of  the  century;  in  consequence  of  the  incident  last 
related,  it  received  from  the  English  the  name  of  Loftus' heights, 
which  it  retained  until  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States,  when  Fort  Adams  was  erected  on  it. 

The  difficulties  between  the  English  and  the  Indians  continued 
until  the  end  of  1764,  by  which  time  the  latter  had  been  entirely 
subdued,  by  the  resolute  conduct  of  the  English  under  Bradstreet, 
on  the  upper  lakes,  and  Bouquet  on  the  Ohio,  aid£d  by  the  in 
fluence  and  exertions  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  in  the  countries 
south  of  Lake  Ontario.  Pontiac,  the  chief  of  the  insurrection, 
abandoned  by  his  allies,  took  refuge  in  the  Illinois,  where  he  was 
three  years  after  murdered  by  a  Frenchman.  That  the  Indians 
were  aided  in  their  resistance  to  the  English  by  the  French,  is 
most  probable  if  not  certain  ;  and  the  latter  retaliated  in  the 
same  way,  whenever  an  opportunity  wTas  presented.  Thus  in 
the  winter  of  1763-4,  a  number  of  Cherokees  under  Ottassite  or 
Judd's  Friend,  a  chief  devoted  to  the  English  cause  and  acting 
under  instructions  from  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  de 
scended  the  Tennessee  river  to  its  mouth,  where  after  waiting 
for  some  days,  they  intercepted  two  large  boats  laden  with  ammu 
nition  for  the  Miami  Indians,  under  the  charge  of  some  French 
men,  who  were  carried  as  prisoners  to  Charleston.  About  the 
same  time,  Fort  Assumption  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  forty- 
six  miles  above  its  mouth,  was  surprised  by  Indians,  probably 
Chickasas,  who  put  to  death  all  found  in  it;  the  place  was  in 
consequence  called  Fort  Massacre,  and  is  now  known  under  the 
abbreviated  name  of  Fort  Massac. 

Peace  being  thus  restored,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Brit 
ish  forces  again  prepared  to  take  possession  of  the  Mississippi* 


520         THE     ENGLISH    OCCUPY    NATCHEZ    AND    ILLINOIS.       [1765- 

countries.  A  vessel  of  war  was  sent  up  that  river,  with  materials 
for  the  construction  and  armament  of  a  fort,  which  was  estab 
lished  at  the  outlet  to  the  Iberville  in  1765,  and  named  Fort 
Bute;  and  Natchez  and  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  were  then  suc 
cessively  occupied  by  a  party  of  Scotch  Grays  under  Captain 
Campbell,  who  changed  the  name  of  Fort  Rosalie  to  Fort  Pan- 
mure,  in  honor  of  their  Colonel.  Major  Sterling  was  at  the  same 
time  despatched  with  a  large  body  of  Highlanders  to  receive 
possession  of  the  Illinois,  from  which  the  French  soldiers  had 
been  nearly  all  withdrawn  in  the  preceding  year,  by  the  Com 
mandant  M.  Nyon  de  Villiers.  M.  de  St.  Ange,  who  was  left 
with  a  few  men,  at  Fort  Chartres,  surrendered  that  place  and 
the  whole  country  to  Sterling,  on  the  10th  of  October;  and  the 
British  then  held  under  their  authority,  all  the  territories  in  North 
America,  assigned  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  Paris. 

The  French  population  of  the  Illinois  country  at  the  time  of 
this  cession,  was  probably  about  eight  hundred,  with  one-fourth 
of  that  number  of  negroes ;  nearly  all  of  whom  resided  in  the  small 
villages  of  Cahokia,Fort  Chartres,  Prairie-du-Rocher,  and  Kaskas- 
kia.  Fort  Chartres  had  been  rebuilt  within  the  preceding  fifteen 
years,  so  as  to  form  a  fortification  sufficient  to  resist  any  attacks 
which  might  be  expected,  either  from  English  or  Indians;  it  stood 
on  the  edge  of  the  Mississippi  bank,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  sixty-seven  miles 
below  that  of  the  Missouri,  and  was  built  of  stone  in  form  of  a 
quadrangle,  with  a  bastion  at  each  angle,  enclosing  a  number  of 
large  houses,  for  barracks,  armories,  magazines,  and  other  mili 
tary  purposes.  Prairie-du-rocher  was  four  miles  south-east  of 
the  fort,  and  Kaskaskia  ten  miles  farther  in  the  same  direction, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the  same  name;  Cahokia  was  fifty 
miles  north  of  Fort  Chartres.  These  places  were  all  situated  in 
a  tract  of  low  land  extending  from  the  Kaskaskia  river,  to  the 
Illinois,  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  highlands,  which  form 
the  eastern  border  of  its  basin.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Great 
River,  the  French  had  likewise  made  some  small  settlements,  the 
principal  of  which,  near  Kaskaskia,  had  received  from  its  weal 
thier  neighbors,  the  soubriquet  of  Misere  or  Misery ;  while  an 
other  in  the  vicinity  of  Cahokia,  seventeen  miles  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri,  was  honored  with  the  appellation  of  Pain-Court, 


1763.]       NEW    PROVINCES    FORMED    BY    PROCLAMATION.  521 

in  allusion  to  the  proverbial  scarcity  of  bread  in  its  district.  At 
each  of  these  places,  the  company  of  Laclede  formed  an  estab 
lishment  for  the  Indian  trade,  of  which  it  had,  as  already  said, 
obtained  the  monopoly  from  the  French  Government,  in  the  pre 
ceding  year;  and  the  number  of  their  inhabitants  being  soon  in 
creased  by  emigration  from  the  opposite  region,  after  its  surren 
der  to  the  English,  the  opprobious  name  of  Misere  was  changed 
to  Sainte  Genevieve,  while  Pain-Court  became  Saint  Louis. 

The  countries  thus  acquired  by  Great  Britain,  in  North  Ameri 
ca,  through  the  treaty  of  Paris,  were  nearly  all  within  the  limits 
of  some  one  of  the  existing  colonies  of  that  nation,  agreeably  to 
their  charters,  which  originally  included  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
Continent,  between  the  29th  arid  the  48th  parallels  of  latitude; 
and  the  Governments  or  the  people  of  several  of  these  provinces, 
were  preparing  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages,  thus  offered 
to  them  by  making  settlements  in  the  new  countries,  when  they 
were  arrested  for  the  time,  by  a  Royal  Proclamation,*  issued  at 

*  The  description  of  the  boundaries  of  these  Provinces,  in  the  proclamation, 
are  as  follows : 

"  First,  the  government  of  Quebec,  bounded  on  the  Labrador  coast  by  the 
river  St.  John,  to  the  south  end  of  the  Lake  Nipissing;  from  whence  the  said 
line,  crossing  the  river  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lake  Champlain  in  45  degrees  of 
north  latitude,  passes  along  *he  High-Lands,  which  divide  the  rivers  that  empty 
themselves  into  the  said  river  St.  Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall  into  the  sea; 
and  also  along  the  north  coast  of  the  Baye  de  Chaleurs,  and  the  coast  of  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  Cape  Rosieres,  and  from  thence  crossing  the  mouth 
of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  by  the  west  end  of  the  Island  of  Anticosti,  termi 
nates  at  the  aforesaid  river  St.  John. 

"  Secondly,  the  government  of  East  Florida,  bounded  to  the  westward  by  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Apalachicola  river;  to  the  northward  by  a  line  drawn 
from  that  part  of  the  said  river,  where  the  Cattahoochee  and  Flint  rivers  meet, 
to  the  source  of  St.  Mary's  river,  and  by  the  course  of  the  said  river,  to  the  At 
lantic  Ocean;  and  to  the  east  and  south,  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  Gulf  of 
Florida,  including  all  the  islands  within  six  leagues  of  the  sea-coast. 

"  Thirdly,  the  government  of  West  Florida,  bounded  to  the  southward,  by  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  including  all  islands  within  six  leagues  of  the  coast,  from  the 
river  Apalachicola  to  Lake  Pontchartrain;  to  the  westward  by  the  said  Lake, 
the  Lake  Maurepas,  and  the  river  Mississippi;  to  the  northward,  by  aline  drawn 
due  east  from  that  part  of  the  river  Mississippi,  which  lies  in  thirty-one  degrees 
north  latitude,  to  the  river  Apalachicola,  or  Cattahoochee;  and  to  the  eastward 
by  the  said  river. 

';  Fourthly,  the  government  of  Grenada,  comprehending  the  island  of  that 
name,  together  with  the  Grenadines,  and  the  Islands  of  Dominico,  St.  Vincent, 
and  Tobago. 

66 


522  CONDITIONS     OF    GRANTS    OF    LAND.  [1763. 

London  on  the  7th  of  October,  1763.  By  this  proclamation, 
three  new  provinces  were  erected  in  parts  of  the  Continent  which 
had  been  already  occupied  by  civilized  people,  and  one  in  the 
West  Indies,  comprehending  the  Islands  of  Granada,  Dominica, 
St.  Vincent's,  Tobago  and  the  Grenadines.  The  provinces  on 
the  Continent  were — Quebec,  embracing  all  the  territory  to  some 
distance  on  each  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  below  the  place  where 
the  river  is  crossed  by  the  45th  parallel  of  latitude — East  Florida, 
including  the  Peninsula  and  the  adjoining  country,  between  the 
Atlantic  and  the  river  Apalachicola,  as  far  north  as  a  line  drawn 
from  the  junction  of  the  Chattahoochee  and  Flint  rivers  which  form 
the  Apalachicola,  eastward  to  the  source  of  St.  Mary's  river,  and 
thence  down  that  stream  to  the  Atlantic  ;  the  territory  between 
the  St.  Mary  and  the  Alatamaha  being  annexed  to  Georgia;  and 
— West  Florida,  which  comprised  all  south  of  the  31st  parallel  of 
latitude,  between  the  Apalachicola  and  the  great  boundary  line, 
running  through  the  Mississippi,  the  Iberville,  and  the  lakes 
Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain.  Each  of  these  new  provinces  was 
to  be  under  the  immediate  control  and  direction  of  the  Crown, 
administered  by  a  Governor,  possessing  extensive  powers  civil 
and  military,  until  circumstances  should  warrant  the  establish 
ment  of  a  legislative  body,  similar  in  form  to  those  of  the  other 
crown  colonies.  Lands  were  to  be  assigned  by  these  Governors  in 
their  respective  provinces  to  reduced  officers  of  the  army  or  navy, 
and  soldiers,  who  had  served  in  the  late  war,  and  to  other  indi 
viduals  who  might  solicit  them,  on  condition  of  settlement,  to  a 
certain  extent,  within  a  certain  time,  and  under  moderate  quit 
rents  and  services:  but  no  lands  not  included  in  the  new  prov 
inces,  or  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories,  and  situated  beyond  the 
heads  of  the  rivers,  falling  directly  into  the  Atlantic,  could  be 
granted  or  sold  by  any  Governor  or  other  British  authority  in 
America,  or  be  occupied  by  any  British  subject  in  virtue  of  gift 
or  purchase  from  the  Indians,  or  under  any  other  pretext,  without 
the  special  permission  of  the  King,  to  whom  was  reserved  the 
exclusive  right  of  making  purchases  from  the  Aborigines,  or 
otherwise  extinguishing  their  titles  to  lands.  Finally,  the  trade 
with  the  Aborigines  in  the  several  provinces,  could  be  conducted 
only  by  traders,  licensed  by  the  respective  Governors,  under 
security  for  their  observance  of  the  regulations  made  by  the 


1763.]  DISREGARD    OF    THE     PROHIBITIONS.  523 

Crown.  The  trade  with  the  other  Indian  countries  was  afterwards 
in  like  manner,  placed  under  (he  direction  of  Superintendents  Gen 
eral,  of  whom  one  was  to  be  appointed  for  the  northern,  and  one 
lor  the  southern  territories;  and  these  officers  in  conjunction  with 
the  Governors  of  the  provinces  interested  in  each  case,  were  em 
powered  to  make  treaties  with  the  various  nations,  defining  their 
boundaries,  and  regulating  the  terms  of  intercourse  with  them. 

The  provisions  of  this  proclamation,  were  in  general  fair  and 
equitable,  especially  those  for  the  protection  of  the  Aborigines, 
against  the  knavery  of  the  white  people;  and  they  formed  the 
bases  of  the  regulations,  made  with  the  same  object  by  the 
United  States,  after  the  establishment  of  their  independence. 
The  prohibition  of  the  concession  of  lands  by  the  Governors, 
beyond  the  heads  of  the  rivers  falling  into  the  Atlantic,  however, 
occasioned  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  people  of  the  old 
provinces,  in  whose  charters  those  lands  were  embraced;  some 
considering  it  as  a  direct  invasion  of  their  rights,  while  others 
viewed  it  *only  as  a  temporary  expedient  on  the  part  of  the  min 
istry,  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  Indians,*  who  had  been  impressed 
by  the  French  with  the  idea,  that  they  were  all  to  be  driven  from 
their  countries  by  the  British.  It  was  probably  intended  also, 
in  part  at  least,  as  a  check  upon  the  advance  of  the  population 
into  the  interior,  which  could  not  fail  to  render  the  provinces 
more  independent  of  the  control  of  the  mother  country ;  but 
whatever  may  have  been  its  object,  it  had  no  effect,  as  settle 
ments  were  soon  after  made  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio,  the 
Kanawha  and  the  Tennessee,  as  freely  as  if  no  such  restriction 
existed. 

Immediately  after  the  appearance  of  this  proclamation,  Gen 
eral  James  Murray,  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  province  of 
Quebec,  Colonel  James  Grant  of  East  .Florida,  and  Captain 

*  Colonel  George  Washington,  who  was  then  residing  at  his  plantation  of 
Mount  Vernon  on  the  Potomac,  wrote  thus  to  Mr.  W.  Crawford  on  the  21st  of 
September,  1767. 

"  I  offered  in  my  last,  to  join  you  in  attempting  to  secure  some  of  the  most 
valuable  lands  in  the  King's  part,  which  I  think  may  be  accomplished  after  a 
while;  notwithstanding  the  Proclamation  that  restrains  it  at  present,  and  pro 
hibits  the  settling  of  them  at  all;  for  I  never  can  look  at  that  proclamation,  in 
any  other  light,  (but  this  I  say  between  ourselves,)  than  as  a  temporary  expedi 
ent,  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  Indians.  It  must  fall  of  course,  in  a  few  years, 
especially  when  those  Indians  consent  to  our  occupying  the  lands." 


524       TREATIES    BETWEEN    THE    BRITISH    AND    INDIANS.     [1765. 

George  Johnstone,  of  West  Florida.  Sir  William  Johnson,  was 
at  the  same  time  made  General  Superintendent  of  the  Indian 
countries  in  the  north,  and  Mr.  John  Steuart  in  those  of  the 
south.  The  Governors  were  instructed  to  invite  settlers  to  their 
provinces  by  the  offer  of  one-hundred  acres  of  land  to  each  head 
of  a  family,  and  fifty  acres  in  addition,  for  every  other  person 
attached  to  it,  on  the  conditions  of  their  paying  five  shillings  for 
every  fifty  acres,  and  an  annual  quit  rent  of  a  half-penny  per  acre, 
and  that  three  acres  of  every  fifty  granted,  should  have  been 
cleared  or  drained  and  cultivated,  and  three  heads  of  cattle  have 
been  placed  upon  every  fifty  acres  of  uncultivated  ground,  within 
three  years  after  the  date  of  the  concession.  Proclamations  to 
this  effect  were  accordingly  issued  by  the  Governors  of  the  Flori- 
das,  accompanied  by  descriptions  of  the  countries,  and  notices 
of  the  various  advantages  offered  to  settlers  in  them;  and  the  In 
dian  nations  of  that  part  of  the  Continent,  were  invited  to  send 
deputies  to  certain  places,  to  meet  the  Superintendent  and  the 
Governors,  for  the  determination  of  boundaries,  and  other  matters 
of  common  interest. 

For  this  latter  object,  a  large  number  of  Muscoghees  and 
Choctas  were  assembled  at  Mobile,  in  the  spring  of  1765,  where 
they  were  informed  by  Messrs.  Johnstone  and  Steuart,  of  the  kind 
intentions  of  the  British  Government  to  protect  them  in  the  pos 
session  of  their  old  hunting  grounds,  and  were  assured  that  the 
treaties  and  other  agreements  made  or  which  might  be  made 
with  them,  would  be  scrupulously  observed  by  the  English,  while 
similar  observances  would  be  strictly  exacted  from  them.  Pres 
ents  were  distributed,  marks  of  honor  were  bestowed  on  the  most 
distinguished  chiefs,  and  every  other  means  was  employed  to 
conciliate  them,  and  to  accommodate  their  differences  among 
themselves.  Treaties  were  then  proposed,  and  after  discussions 
and  alterations,  were  concluded,  distinctly  defining  the  bounda 
ries  of  each  of  the  nations,  within  which  no  lands  could  be 
bought  or  settlements  be  made  by  white  men,  without  the  consent 
of  the  Indians,  and  of  the  British  authorities.  Thus,  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  countries  of  the  lower  Tombigbee  and  Alabama 
rivers,  were  secured  to  the  Choctas,  and  those  of  the  upper  Ala 
bama  and  Chattahoochee  to  the  Muscoghees  or  Creeks;  and  in 
order  to  quiet  the  apprehensiors  of  those  nations,  Forts  Toulouse 


1764.]  BRITISH    SETTLEMENTS    IN    EAST    FLORIDA.  525 

and  Tombechbe  were  soon  after  abandoned.*  In  like  manner, 
by  a  treaty  concluded  at  St.  Augustine  in  November  of  the  same 
year,  the  Seminoles,  or  Lower  Creeks  of  the  Peninsula,  were 
secured  in  the  possession  of  the  country,  extending  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  river  St.  John,  north-westward  to  the  head  waters 
of  the  St.  Mary  and  the  Alatamaha;  and  other  treaties  were  af 
terwards  made  with  the  smaller  Indian  nations,  by  which,  large 
bodies  of  fine  lands  were  opened  to  British  settlers. 

In  the  territories  not  thus  specially  reserved  to  the  Indians, 
lands  were  granted  by  the  Governors  of  each  of  the  Floridas  ac 
cording  to  the  provisions  of  the  proclamation,  as  well  as  by  the 
Crown,  to  individuals  and  companies.  The  earliest  of  these  large 
grants,  were  made  in  the  eastern  provinces,  where  the  principal 
patentees  were  Lords  Egmont,  Hillsborough,  Hawke  and  Gran- 
ville,  Sir  William  Duncan,  and  Messrs.  Oswald,  Turnbull,  Rolle 
and  Moultrie.  Lord  Egmont  obtained  the  whole  of  Amelia 
island,  which  extends  from  the  mouth  of  St.  Mary's  river  to  that 
of  the  Nassau,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  St.  John;  and  he  there 
formed  a  cotton  plantation  which  was  soon  in  a  prosperous 
condition.  Mr.  Rolle's  grant  embraced  forty  thousand  acres, 
to  be  chosen  by  him  from  any  vacant  lands  in  the  province : 
he  had  first  determined  to  make  his  settlement  at  St.  Mark's, 
and  with  that  object,  he  sailed  from  London,  accompanied  by 
several  hundred  persons,  mostly  paupers,  towards  the  entrance 
of  the  Mexican  Gulf;  but  having  been  forced  by  storms  to  put 
into  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John,  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  the 
country,  that  he  selected  a  tract  upon  that  river,  about  forty  miles 
south-west  of  St.  Augustine,  where  he  formed  his  establishment, 
called  Charlottea,  in  honor  of  the  Queen.  Messrs.  Oswald  and 
Moultrie,  established  their  people  on  the  Halifax  river  near  its 
entrance  into  the  Atlantic,  about  seventy  miles  below  St.  Augus 
tine,  wrhere  they  commenced  large  plantations  of  sugar  and  in- 

*  These  places  were  visited  by  Bartram  in  1774,  when  the  only  vestiges  found, 
were  some  embankments  and  old  fields  at  Fort  Tombechbe",  and  a  few  small 
iron  cannon,  and  some  fine  apple-trees  at  Fort  Toulouse.  Fort  Tombechbe,  was 
situated  as  already  said,  on  a  cliff  now  known  as  Jones'  Bluff,  overhanging  the 
Tombechbe  or  Tombigbee  river,  on  the  west,  about  fifty  miles  above  its  conflu 
ence  with  the  Alabama.  Fort  Toulouse  stood  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Coosa  and  Talipoosa  rivers,  seven  miles  north  of  Montgomery  the 
present  capital  of  the  State  of  Alabama ;  the  place  was  occupied  during  the  Creek 
war  in  1817,  by  the  Americans,  who  erected  on  it  a  work  called  Fort  Jackson. 


D26  WEST    FLORIDA    EXTENDED    FARTHER    NORTH.          [1765. 

digo.  Dr.  Turnbull,  in  conjunction  with  Sir  William  Duncan, 
selected  a  tract  a  short  distance  south  of  that  occupied  by  Messrs. 
Moultrie  and  Oswald,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Halifax  and  Hills- 
borough  rivers  into  Mosquito  Inlet,  on  which  they  laid  out  a  town 
on  a  high  shelly  bluff,  overhanging  the  Hillsborough  on  the  west; 
and  there  they  in  1767  established  several  hundreds  of  Minor- 
cans,  Corsicans,  and  Greeks  from  the  Morea,  who  were  to  be 
employed  in  the  cultivation  of  olives,  grapes,  figs,  and  currants, 
for  exportation,  and  in  making  wine,  in  addition  to  the  produc 
tion  of  the  other  articles  above  mentioned.  The  unfortunate  re 
sult  of  this  last  enterprise  will  be  hereafter  related. 

In  West  Florida,  the  earliest  grants  of  lands  were  made  in  the 
vicinity  of  Pensacola  and  Mobile,  chiefly  to  French  Protestants ; 
the  greater  part  of  these  settlers,  however,  soon  died  of  the  yellow 
fever,  which  seems  to  have  made  its  first  appearance  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  at  Pensacola  in  1765,  and 
that  portion  of  Florida  was,  in  consequence,  avoided  by  emi 
grants  from  Europe  or  from  the  southern  colonies.  A  town 
called  New  Richmond  was  at  the  same  time  laid  off  at  Baton 
Rouge  on  the  Mississippi:  but  the  applications  were  principally 
directed  to  procure  lands  near  the  Great  River,  north  of  the  31st 
parallel  of  latitude,  which  had  been  fixed  by  the  proclamation,  as 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  province;  and  the  British  Govern 
ment  being  most  anxious  to  have  the  banks  of  that  river  speedily 
and  effectively  occupied  by  its  own  subjects,  as  soon  as  possible, 
determined  in  March,  1764,  that  the  northern  boundary  should  be 
removed  to  the  latitude  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river.  Governor 
Johnstone  was  accordingly  authorised  to  include  all  south  of  that 
line,  in  his  province;  and  the  commissions  and  instructions  given 
to  all  the  subsequent  Governors,  so  long  as  the  country  remained 
in  the  possession  of  Great  Britain,  declare  West  Florida  to  be 
bounded  on  the  north  by  "a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Yazoo  river,  where  it  unites  with  the  Mississippi,  due  east,  to  the 
Apalachicola."  No  order,  proclamation,  or  other  act  of  the  British 
Government,  except  those  above  mentioned,  sanctioning  this 
change  in  the  extent  and  limits  of  West  Florida,  was  ever  publish 
ed  or  seems  to  have  been  made:  but  the  authority  of  the  Governor 
of  that  province,  to  grant  lands  and  to  exercise  jurisdiction  in  the 
territory  as  far  as  the  latitude  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  was 


1764.]  PASSAGE    OF    THE     STAMP    ACT.  527 

never  questioned.  Under  the  protection  thus  afforded,  the  settle 
ment  of  the  eastern  banks  of  the  Mississippi  proceeded  rapidly; 
large  grants  of  lands  being  made  to  several  individuals  in  England 
and  America,  especially  in  the  eastern  provinces,  by  whom  plan 
tations  were  formed  for  the  cultivation  of  corn,  indigo,  and  to 
bacco,  at  the  points  most  secure  from  inundation,  between  the 
Iberville  and  the  Yazoo. 

On  the  Ohio,  the  Virginians  and  Pennsylvanians  bought  lands 
frpm  the  Indians  and  fixed  their  habitations  without  regard  for  the 
Royal  proclamation,  which  became,  as  Washington  foresaw,  a 
dead  letter  in  all  its  prohibitions  of  that  nature.  In  the  Illinois, 
no  establishments  were  formed  by  the  English  for  some  years, 
during  which  the  French  merely  maintained  their  old  settlements, 
without  any  remarkable  change.  Farther  north-west  the  efforts 
of  the  English  were  directed  chiefly  to  trade,  in  which  they  seem 
to  have  been  less  successful  than  the  French.  They  also  explored 
the  regions  bordering  upon  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior, 
where  many  of  those  remarkable  deposites  of  copper  and  lead, 
which  now  render  that  part  of  the  continent  so  valuable,  were 
discovered.  A  company  was  formed  in  London  in  1769,  for 
working  these  mines,  in  order  to  extract  the  silver  combined  with 
the  other  metals;  but  the  project  was  soon  abandoned.* 

In  the  meantime,  serious  discontent  was  prevailing  throughout 
the  old  colonies  of  England  in  America.  Soon  after  the  appear 
ance  of  the  Royal  proclamation  for  the  government  of  the  new 
provinces,  the  earliest  measures  of  the  British  Ministers  for  re 
straining  and  taxing  the  American  colonies,  were  proposed  in 
Parliament.  In  March  1764,  Mr.  Grenville  presented  his  cele 
brated  resolution, — that  towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  pro 
tecting  and  securing  the  colonies,  it  may  be  proper  to  charge 
certain  stamp  duties  in  those  countries  ;  and  this  having  been 
carried,  acts  were  passed  in  succession,  establishing  stamp  du 
ties  on  all  legal  and  mercantile  documents  in  the  American  pro 
vinces,  and  duties  of  import  on  certain  articles  brought,  into  them 
from  foreign  countries,  and  requiring  them  to  support  troops 
which  were  to  be  quartered  in  various  places.  Against  these 
acts,  the  people  and  the  legislative  assemblies  of  several  colonies, 

*  See  the  travels  and  adventures  of  Alexander  Henry,  who  was  the  agent  of 
this  company,  published  at  Montreal  in  1809. 


528  RESISTANCE    OF    THE    BRITISH    PROVINCES.  [1765. 

immediately  protested,  and  remonstrated,  on  the  grounds — that 
laws  imposing  taxes  on  British  subjects  could  not  be  rightfully 
made,  without  the  consent  of  representatives  chosen  by  them 
selves.  This  view  of  the  question  was  not  admitted  by  the  min 
istry,  which  disregarded  the  remonstrances  of  the  colonies,  and 
the  latter  in  consequence,  proceeded  to  more  effective  measures. 
Resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Legislatures  of  some  of  the  pro 
vinces  for  impeding  or  preventing  the  execution  of  the  obnoxious 
laws,  and  the  people  resisted  their  application  by  force  ;  and  a 
Congress  of  representatives  from  nearly  all  the  colonies  was  con 
vened  at  New  York,  by  which  a  Declaration  of  Rights  and  Griev 
ances  was  drawn  up,  in  October,  1765,  and  submitted  to  the 
Ministers,  by  Commissioners  appointed  for  the  purpose.  This 
universal  and  determined  resistance  led  to  the  repeal  of  the 
stamp  act  on  the  18th  of  March,  1766;  but  Parliament,  at 'the 
same  time,  asserted  the  right  of  the  Government,  to  make  all 
laws  and  statutes  to  bind  the  colonies  in  America,  in  all  cases 
whatsoever  ;  and  new  taxes  were  imposed,  and  troops  and  ships 
of  war  were  sent  to  America,  to  enforce  that  obedience  to  the 
authority  of  the  mother  country,  which  was  considered  due  in 
return  for  the  protection  afforded  by  it.  These  new  acts  of  power 
added  fuel  to  the  flame,  and  excited  the  people  to  resistance  in 
every  part  of  the  old  provinces.  The  collectors  of  the  customs 
were  attacked,  whenever  they  ventured  to  exercise  their  func 
tions,  unsupported  by  large  bodies  of  troops  ;  and  it  became  evi 
dent  that  the  dependence  of  the  colonies  upon  Great  Britain  could 
not  be  maintained  under  the  existing  circumstances,  without  a 
struggle,  the  ultimate  results  of  which  it  was  impossible  to  foresee 
Louisiana  still  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  French.  The 
Director  General  D'Abadie,  persevered  in  his  thankless  and  un 
promising  labors,  for  the  regeneration  of  the  province,  agreeably 
to  his  ideas;  but  the  belief  that  it  had  been  ceded  to  Spain, 
checked  all  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  labor  for  its 
improvement.  This  belief  was  confirmed  and  encouraged  by  the 
English,  whose  vessels  freely  ascended  and  descended  the  Mis 
sissippi,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  and  though  ex 
cluded  as  carefully  as  possible  from  New  Orleans,  held  frequent 
communications  with  the  people  at  other  points  in  its  vicinity, 
where  they  introduced  large  quantities  of  goods  by  contraband. 


1764.]     LETTER  OF    THE    KING    OF    FRANCE     TO    O?ABADIE.        529 

This  irregular  commerce,  the  Governor  endeavored  to  .\heck,  by 
vigilance,  though  he  could  not  venture  to  employ  force,  as  the 
people  were  evidently  not  disposed  to  submit  to  any  measures 
of  that  nature;  and  he  was  obliged,  with  grief,  to  submit  to  the 
injuries  thus  inflicted  on  the  royal  revenues,  in  consequence  of 
the  voyages  made  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  to  Manchac, 
and  to  le  Petit  Manchac,  as  they  called  the  spot  opposite  to  New 
Orleans,  where  the  interlopers  landed  their  merchandise  in  passing. 

M.  D'Abadie.  however,  persisted  in  contradicting  and  even  in 
disbelieving  the  reports  of  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  Spain,  until 
the  month  of  October,  1764,  when  he  received  a  letter  from 
King  Louis  XV.  himself,  which  dispelled  all  doubts  on  the  sub 
ject.  By  this  letter,  dated  Versailles,  April  21,  His  Majesty 
informed  the  Director  General  of  Louisiana — that  he  had,  of  his 
own  free  will,  ceded  that  province  to  his  cousin  Charles  III.  of 
Spain,  in  November,  1762,  in  confirmation  of  which,  he  more 
over  sent  official  copies  of  the  acts  of  cession  and  acceptance 
exchanged  on  that  occasion ;  and  he  therefore  charged  M 
D'Abadie  to  deliver  up  the  country  with  all  its  forts  and  dependen 
cies,  as  they  were  at  the  time  of  the  cession,  to  the  person  who 
might  appear  with  powers  from  His  Catholic  Majesty  to  re- 
reive  them,  and  to  retire  to  France  or  to  one  of  the  West  India 
Islands,  with  the  officers  civil  and  military,  and  the  soldiers  who 
might  not  choose  to  enter  the  service  of  Spain. 

The  King's  letter  was  immediately  published  to  the  people, 
who  eagerly  examined  it  in  search  of  some  guarantee  for  their 
future  condition  and  treatment  by  their  new  masters  ;  but  all 
that  they  could  find  on  these  points,  was  embraced  in  the  follow 
ing  indefinite  passage: — u  I  hope  at  the  same  time,  for  the  ad 
vantage  and  tranquillity  of  Louisiana,  and  I  promise  myself,  in 
consequence  of  the  friendship  and  affection  of  His  Catholic  Ma 
jesty,  that  he  will  give  orders  to  his  Governor,  and  to  every  other 
officer  employed  in  his  service  in  the  said  colony,  and  in  the  city 
of  New  Orleans,  that  the  ecclesiastics  and  the  religious  houses 
appropriated  to  the  curacies  and  missions,  may  be  maintained 
and  continued  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
exemptions  attributed  to  them  by  the  titles  of  their  establishment; 
that  the  ordinary  judges,  as  well  as  the  Superior  Council,  may 
continue  to  dispense  justice,  according  to  the  laws,  forms,  and 
67 


DEATH    OF  D'ABADIE.  [1765 

usages  of  the  colony;  that  the  inhabitants  may  be  confirmed  in 
the  possession  of  their  property,  according  to  the  concessions 
made  to  them  by  the  Governors  and  Commissaries  of  the  said 
colony,  and  the  said  concessions  may  be  regarded  and  reputed 
as  confirmed  by  His  Catholic  Majesty,  even  though  they  might 
not  have  been  yet  so  confirmed  by  myself;  and  finally,  that  His 
Catholic  Majesty  will  give  to  his  subjects  in  Louisiana,  the  same 
marks  of  protection  and  kindness,  which  they  have  received 
under  my  dominion,  and  from  which,  only  the  mis-fortunes  of  war 
have  prevented  them  from  deriving  greater  benefits." 

These  unmeaning  expressions  of  His  Majesty's  hopes  and  ex 
pectations  afforded  no  assurance  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana, 
who  could  not  fail  to  see  that  they  had  been  transferred  with  their 
country,  to  a  new  master,  as  provinces  and  their  people  in  Eu 
rope  were  transferred  at  the  conclusion  of  every  war,  without 
any  provision  for  their  future  lot.  It  would  indeed  have  been  idle 
in  them  to  suppose,  that  any  exception  would  be  made  in  their 
favor,  by  such  a  Government  as  that  of  Louis  XV.  or  that  if  made, 
it  would  have  been  respected,  by  a  power  like  Spain,  which  had 
ever  been  most  inimical  to  the  existence  of  rights  and  privileges 
among  its  subjects,  especially  in  the  colonies.  It  would  have 
been  no  less  difficult  for  them  to  specify  "the  marks  of  pro 
tection  and  kindness,"  which  they  had  received  from  the  sove 
reign  of  France;  nor  could  they  have  reasonably  supposed,  that 
their  condition  would  be  rendered  much,  if  at  all,  worse,  oy 
the  change  of  dominion  thus  announced  to  them:  and  they  would 
probably  have  submitted  to  their  fate  at  first,  as  they  did  in  the 
end,  with  indifference,  had  any  hope  been  held  out,  of  the  re 
demption  of  the  Government  paper,  in  which  almost  every  man 
in  the  province  was  deeply  interested.  But  on  this  point,  the 
letter  was  silent,  and  the  Director  General,  to  whom  it  was  ad 
dressed,  could  give  no  information.  That  worthy  personage, 
was  so  completely  overwhelmed  by  the  news  of  the  cession, 
that  he  at  once  lost  all  his  capacity  for  action  or  thought,  and 
alter  lingering  a  few  months,  he  died  in  February,  1765,  leaving 
to  Captain  Charles  Philippe  Aubry,  as  commandant  of  the  troops 
the  task  of  executing  the  orders  of  their  master. 

The  inhabitants  were  at  first  overcome  by  the  news  of  the  ces 
sion  ;  there  were  however,  at  New  Orleans  a  few  men,  exercising 


1765.]  REMOIsSTRANCES    OF    THE    LOUIS1ANIANS.  531 

considerable  influence  in  the  province,  by  their  talents,  character, 
wealth,  or  official  position,  who  determined  by  all  means  in  their 
power,  to  resist  the  transfer.     At  the  head  ot'this  party,  was  the  At 
torney  General,  Lafreniere,  the  third  person  in  rank  in  the  colonial 
administration,  a  native  of  the  country,  ardent,  enthusiastic,  and 
eloquent,  but,   as    his    conduct    sufficiently    proved,    possessing 
neither  the   discretion   nor  the  firmness,   required  for  measures 
such  as  he  contemplated.     In  the  Superior  Council,  of  which  he 
was   a   member,  he   was   opposed  by   the  commandant  Aubry, 
and  the  commissary  Foucault,  who  having  neither  interests  nor 
attachments  in  Louisiana,  and  being  both  anxious  to  escape  the 
fate  of  Kerlerec,  endeavored  to  calm  the  agitation  of  the  people, 
and  induce  them  to  submit  quietly  to  the  change;  but  of  the  six 
other  councillors,*  Lafreniere  controled  a  sufficient  number,  to 
give  him  a  majority  of  the  voices  on  almost  every  occasion,  so 
as  to  throw  upon  the  commandant  and  the  commissary,  a  heavy 
responsibility  for  any  steps,  which  they  might  take  in  exercise 
of  their  powers,  contrary  to  the  opinions  of  the  whole  as  a  body. 
Out  of  the  Council,  the  leaders  of  the  patriots — as  they  termed 
themselves — were  the  brothers  Jean  and  Joseph  Milhet  the  rich 
est  merchants   in  the  country,  Noyan  a  grand  nephew  of  Bien- 
ville  and  Iberville,  and  son-in-la\v  to  Lafreniere,  Doucet  a  law 
yer,  Caresse  a  merchant,   Villere  a  planter,  and  Marquis  a  re- 
firfed  Swiss  officer;  and  they  were  supported  by  many  other  in 
dividuals  in  the  country,  as  well  as  in  the   capital,  comprising 
together,  all  the  most  important  persons  of  the  province.  Through 
their  exertions,  a  convention  of  deputies  informally  chosen  in  the 
different  districts,  was  assembled  at  New  Orleans  in  January,  1765, 
by  which  an  address  to  the  throne  was  drawn  up  remonstrating 
against  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  Spain,  and  praying  for  relief 
from  their  financial  afflictions  ;  and  Jean  Milhet  was  commissioned 
to  proceed  to  Paris,  and  lay  it  at  the  feet  of  their  gracious  Sove 
reign  Louis  XV. 

The  envoy  M.  Milhet,  on  arriving  at  Paris  applied  for  aid  and 
direction  to  M.  de  Bienville,  the  former  Governor  of  Louisiana, 
who,  then  in  his  eighty-sixth  year,  still  took  the  deepest  interest 

*  The  Council  was  then  composed  of — Aubry  the  Commandant,  Foucault  the 
Commissary,  Lafreniere  the  Attorney  General,  Messrs.  Delalande,  Delaunay, 
Kernion,  Laplace,  Lachaise,  and  Lesacier  Councillors,  and  Garic  the  Secretary. 


532  MISSION    OF    JKAN    MILHET    TO    PARIS.  [1765. 

in  all  that  concerned  that  country  ;  and  he  was  thus  enabled  to 
obtain  an  interview  with  the  Duke  de  Choiseul,  who  however, 
gave  no  direct  answers  on  any  point  for  some  time.  All  the  ef 
forts  of  Milhet  to  see  the  King  were  fruitless  ;  and  he  was  at 
length  informed  by  the  minister,  that  the  cession  of  Louisiana 
was  an  act  which  neither  could,  nor  under  any  circumstances 
would  be  recalled,  as  France  was  unable  to  bear  the  expenses  of 
so  useless  a  possession.  With  regard  to  the  paper  money  and 
other  Government  securities,  Choiseul  spoke  less  distinctly,  but 
he  offered  no  encouragement  for  the  expectation  that  any  relief 
would  be  soon  offered  for  those  grievances. 

Positive  orders  were  at  the  same  time  sent  from  Paris  to  the 
Commandant  and  the  other  authorities  of  Louisiana,  to  make  every 
preparation  for  its  surrender  immediately  on  the  arrival  of  the 
Spanish  Commissioner,  who  had  been  appointed  to  receive  the 
possession,  and  these  orders  were  exhibited  by  Aubry,  as  the 
only  reply  which  he  could  give  to  a  memorial  from  the  merchants 
of  New  Orleans,  addressed  to  him  on  the  28th  of  June,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  reports  received  from  Milhet.  Months  however 
passed  by  without  the  appearance  of  the  Spaniards  in  Louisiana; 
and  vague  hopes  thus  arose  among  the  people  that  something 
might  have  occurred  to  prevent  the  dreaded  consummation  of  the 
surrender. 

In  the  meantime,  the  population  of  the  colony  had  been  con 
siderably  increased,  by  the  immigration  of  persons  from  the  ter 
ritories  surrendered  to  Great  Britain.  Those  from  Mobile^  and 
Natchez,  nearly  all  established  themselves  at  New  Orleans  and 
its  vicinity;  while  those  from  the  Illinois,  settled  for  the  most 
part  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  and  near  St.  Louis 
and  St.  Genevieve.  About  five  hundred  Acadians,  moreover 
arrived  in  Louisiana,  during  the  year  1765.  These  unfortunate 
people,  who  had  been  expelled,  as  already  mentioned,  from  their 
native  land,  by  the  British  authorities,  upon  their  refusal  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  that  power  in  1753,  remained  for  ten 
years,  forming  small  communities,  in  different  parts  of  the  British 
colonies,  principally  in  the  larger  cities  of  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
and  Charleston,  where  they  were  known  under  the  general  name 
of  the  Neutral  French.  Having  nothing  in  common  with  those 
among  whom  they  thus  resided,  the  Acadians  were,  after  the 


1765.]        LETTER  OF  ULLOA  TO  THE  COUNCIL.          533 

peace,  induced  to  emigrate  to  St.  Domingo,  where  four  hundred 
and  eighteen  of  them  were  landed  in  July,  1764:  of  this  number, 
a  large  proportion  were  immediately  seized  with  fevers,  which 
carried  off  many,  while  the  others  suffered  dreadfully  from  disease, 
hunger,  and  the  terrible  heat  of  the  climate;  and  as  it  became 
evident  that  the  island  was  entirely  unsuit.ed  to  them,  it  was  de 
termined  that  they  should  be  removed  to  some  more  northern 
colony.  Accordingly,  three  hundred  and  twenty,  were  sent  to 
Louisiana,  where  they  arrived  in  January,  1765;  and  they  were 
followed  by  two  hundred  others,  including  several  families,  who 
came  from  Charleston,  after  the  departure  of  the  first  body.  In 
their  new  home  they  appear  to  have  been  received  with  no  great 
demonstration  of  delight  by  their  fellow  subjects  :  lands  were 
however,  assigned  to  them  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  be- 
low  New  Orleans ;  chiefly  however,  on  the  west,  in  the  district 
called  La  Fourche,  and  in  the  Opelousas  and  Attakappas  regions, 
where  their  descendants  still  form  a  large  portion  of  the  people. 
The  hopes  of  the  people  of  Louisiana,  founded  on  the  non-ap 
pearance  of  the  Spaniards,  to  take  possession  of  their  country, 
were  dissipated  in  August,  1765,  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter,  ad 
dressed  to  the  Superior  Council,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
translation  at  length: 

HAVANNA,  July  10th,  1765. 

GENTLEMEN  :  Having  recently  received  orders  from  His  Catho 
lic  Majesty,  to  proceed  to  your  city,  and  take  possession  of  it, 
agreeably  to  the  orders  also  given  by  His  Christian  Majesty,  I 
embrace  this  occasion  to  inform  you  of  it,  and  to  say,  that  I  shall 
soon  have  the  honor  to  be  with  you,  in  fulfilment  of  this  com 
mission.  I  flatter  myself,  in  anticipation,  with  the  hope  that  I 
shall  thus  have  favorable  opportunities  afforded  to  me  for  render 
ing  all  the  services,  which  you  and  the  inhabitants  of  your  city, 
may  desire  ;  and  I  pray  you  to  assure  them  of  this  in  my  name, 
and  that  in  so  doing,  I  shall  not  only  fulfil  my  duties,  but  at  the 
same  time  'my  own  inclination. 

ANTONIO  DE  ULLOA. 

The  writer  of  this  letter  was  a  Captain  in  the  Spanish  Navy, 
already  well  and  favorably  known  in  Europe,  by  his  interesting 
work  on  the  civil  and  political  condition  of  the  colonies  of  that 


534  ARRIVAL    OF    ULLOA    IN    LOUISIANA.  [1766. 

nation  in  South  America,*  to  which  he  had  been  sent  on  a  toui 
of  inspection,  about  twenty  years  before ;  and  as  his  representa 
tions  had  led  to  the  reform  of  many  abuses  in  the  administration 
of  those  countries,  the  assignment  of  the  commission  to  receive 
possession  of  Louisiana  to  such  a  person,  seemed  to  indicate 
views  on  the  part  of  Spain,  more  congenial  to  the  wishes  of  the 
people  than  they  had  anticipated.  The  dissatisfaction  occasioned 
by  the  certainty  of  their  approaching  transfer  to  Spain,  was  in 
consequence  much  moderated,  especially  as  it  was  understood, 
that  no  change  would  be  made  in  the  administrative  system  of 
the  country,  which  was  to  remain  distinct  from  all  the  other 
Spanish  Colonies  ;f  and  when  Ulloa  reached  New  Orleans, 
•which  was  not  until  the  10th  of  March,  1766,  he  was  received 
with  respect,  if  not  with  enthusiasm,  by  the  people  as  well  as  by 
the  authorities. 

These  feelings  however,  soon  gave  place  to  others  of  an  oppo 
site  nature.  Ulloa  came  attended  by  only  ninety  Spanish  soldiers, 
and  three  civil  officers,  Don  Jose  Loyola  as  Commissary  of  war, 
Don  Martin  Navarro  as  Intendant  of  finance,  and  Don  Antonio 
Estevan  Gayarre  as  Comptroller  of  accounts.  When  requested 

*  "Relacion  Historica  del  viage  a  la  America  Meridional,  para  medir  algunos 
grades  de  meridiano  terrestre  &c.  por  Don  Jorge  Juan  y  Don  Antonio  Ulloa." — 
4  vols.  Madrid,  1743 — translated  into  English,  and  published  at  London  in  1758, 
in  2  vols.,  under  the  title  of  "  A  Voyage  to  South  America,  describing  at  large 
the  Spanish  cities,  &,c.,  on  that  extensive  continent,  &.c."  Ulloa  had  been  se 
lected  with  Don  Jorge  Juan,  a  distinguished  naval  officer,  to  proceed  to  South 
America  in  1735,  and  there  in  conjunction  with  Messrs.  Bouguer,  la  Condamine, 
and  Godin,  to  measure  a  degree  of  the  meridian,  near  the  equator;  while  similar 
observations  should  be  made  by  Maupertuis,  Clairaut,  and  others,  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Sweden,  in  order  to  obtain  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the  form  of  the  earth. 
The  scientific  labors  devolved  chiefly  upon  Juan ;  Ulloa  being  employed  in  ex 
amining  the  political  condition  of  those  countries,  which  he  seems  to  have  per 
formed  with  signal  ability  and  honesty.  Of  his  report,  however,  only  a  small 
part  was  published  by  the  Spanish  Government,  in  the  work  above  mentioned; 
the  more  important  details  of  the  abuses  of  the  administration,  and  the  tyranny 
exercised  by  the  .Government  authorities,  remained  carefully  concealed  in 
manuscript,  in  the  archives  6f  the  Indies,  until  1825,  when  they  were  given  to 
the  world,  in  the  original  at  London,  by  a  person  who  had  by  some  means  ob 
tained  a  copy,  under  the  title  of  "Noticias  Secrelas  de  America." 

f  Such  seems  to  have  been  in  fact  the  first  intention  of  the  Spanish  Govern 
ment,  agreeably  to  the  Royal  order,  of  January  28th,  1771,  containing  abstracts 
of  the  various  provisions,  which  had  been  made  with  regard  to  Louisiana,  sinoe 
the  period  of  its  cession. 


17'          '  POPULATION     OF     LOUIS!  ASA. 


by  the  Superior  Council,  to  exhibit  his  powers,  in  order  that  they 
shoul.i  be  registered,  he  coldly  replied  that  he  had  no  concern 
with  that  body  or  with  any  other  authority,  except  the  comman 
dant,  as  the  representative  of  His  Christian  Majesty;  and  to  the 
latter  officer  he  declared  his  intention  not  to  receive  the  posses 
sion  of  the  country,  until  the  arrival  of  the  troops  who  were  to 
follow  from  Cuba.  Upon  the  all  absorbing  question,  of  the  dis 
positions  to  be  made  with  regard  to  the  paper  money,  the  Span 
ish  Commissioner  had  no  instructions;  though  he  was  willing  to 
redeem  a  portion  of  the  notes  issued  by  D'Abadie,  in  specif',  at 
their  current  value,  about,  one  quarter  of  the  nominal,  though  the 
same  notes  would  be  issued  again  in  payment  of  the  expenses  of 
his  administration.  This  offer  was  however  accepted  by  only  a 
few  of  the  holders,  the  others  still  clinging  to  the  hope  of  receiv 
ing  justice  from  the  French  Government. 

After  a  few  days  thus  passed  at  New  Orleans,  Ulloa  set  off 
accompanied  by  the  Commissary  Foucault,  on  a  tour  of  inspec 
tion  through  the  country,  in  which  he  was  engaged  until  Septem 
ber  following.  During  the  intervening  period,  he  visited  the 
Illinois  and  the  Red  river  countries,  and  established  Spanish 
garrisons  at  Manchac  opposite  to  the  English  Fort  Bute,  at  St. 
Louis,  at  Natchitoches,  and  at  other  points.  He  moreover  caused 
a  census  to  be  taken,  from  which  it  appeared,  that  the  colony 
contained  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-two  white  persons, 
— nearly  the  same  number  as  in  1721 — and  a  number  rather 
larger  of  negroes.* 

On  returning  from  his  tour,  Ulloa  passed  only  a  few  days  at 
New  Orleans,  and  thence  proceeded  to  the  Balise,  where  he  es 
tablished  himself  in  a  new  fort,  erected  during  his  absence,  and 
garrisoned  by  Spanish  soldiers  ;  and  there  he  was  united  in  mar 
riage  to  the  Marchioness  de  Abrado,  a  rich  widow  from  Peru. 
Shortly  afterwards,  on  the  6th  of  September,  an  ordinance  was 
issued  by  the  Commandant  Aubry,  in  the  name  of  the  Spanish 
Government,  confining  the  trade  of  the  colony  to  communica 
tions  with  six  ports  of  the  Spanish  peninsula,  to  be  conducted  in 

*Viz — eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three  white  men  capable  of  bearing  arms, 
one  thousand  and  forty-four  marriageable  white  women,  thirteen  hundred  and 
seventy-five  white  boys,  and  twelve  hundred  and  forty-four  white  girls.  The 
whole  number  of  the  blacks  was  five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  forty. 


536  FIRST    SPANISH    DECREES    IN     LOUISIANA.  T1766 

/  >> 

Spanish  built  vessels,  owned  and  commanded  by  Spaniards,  only; 
though  as  a  favor,  in  order  to  prevent  injury  to  the  inhabitants 
from  so  -sudden  a  change,  vessels  would  be  allowed  for  a  certain 
time,  to  sail  between  Louisiana  and  France,  or  St.  Domingo,  in 
virtue  of  passports  to  be  obtained  from  the  Spanish  Government, 
or  from  its  authorities  in  the  province,  with  the  understanding, 
however,  that  the  merchandise  thus  introduced,  should  be  sold 
only  at  prices  fixed  by  a  Spanish  tariff.  This  innovation  filled 
the  people  with  dismay,  as  it  tended  directly  to  the  destruction 
of  the  commerce  of  the  colony,  and  indeed  of  the  colony  itself; 
for  Louisiana  produced  nothing,  which  Spain  could  not  draw  from 
its  other  provinces,  in  abundance,  of  better  quality  and  at  lower 
prices:  and  the  merchants  of  New  Orleans  immediately  addressed 
a  remonstrance  against  the  new  regulations  to  the  Superior  Coun 
cil,  in  which  a  discussion  arose  between  Aubry  and  Lafieniere, 
as  to  the  legality  of  the  Spanish  decree,  and  the  powers  of  the 
Commissioner  of  that  nation.  The  Commandant  admitted  that 
LJlloa  had  never  received  possession  of  the  province,  nor  even 
exhibited  any  title  to  receive  it;  whereupon  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral  insisted  with  more  of  reason  than  discretion,  that  the  supre 
macy  of  France  still  continued,  and  therefore,  no  act  of  another 
Government  could  have  effect.  The  discussion  became  very  vio 
lent,  but  it  ended  in  a  compromise,  made  through  the  intervention 
of  the  Commissary,  agreeably  to  which,  the  obnoxious  regula 
tions  wTere  not  to  be  enforced,  so  long  as  Spain  should  not  have 
taken  effective  possession  of  the  country. 

Immediately  after  this  affair,  Aubry  hastened  to  the  Balise, 
where  he  urged,  and  finally  prevailed  upon  Ulloa  to  receive  the 
possession  of  the  province;  and  this  act  was  accordingly  per 
formed,  though  in  private,  and  under  positive  injunctions  from 
the  Spanish  Commissioner  to  keep  it  secret.  The  reason  as 
signed  for  this  strange  proceeding,  was  the  want  of  Spanish 
forces  in  the  country,  sufficient  to  maintain  the  dominion  of  the 
Catholic  Monarch;  as  the  French  soldiers  refused  to  act  under 
the  flag  of  another  nation,  and  required  their  discharge,  to  which 
they  were  by  law  entitled  from  the  length  of  their  service.  But 
there  were  other  motives  for  delaying  the  publication  of  the  fact 
of  the  surrender;  of  which  the  principal  was  the  continued  un 
willingness  of  the  Spanish  Government  to  receive  Louisiana. 


1766.]  HESITATION    OF    THE     COURT    OF     SPAIN.  537 

The  acts  of  cession  had  fixed  no  time  for  its  fulfilment;  and  in 
order  to  arrive  at  a  proper  conclusion  as  to  the  policy  of  accept 
ing  the  country,  Ulloa  had  been  sent  to  examine  it,  for  which  his 
observations  on  South  America,  seemed  to  show  that  he  was  well 
suited  ;  and  although  he  went  provided  with  powers  to  accept 
the  surrender,  he  was  to  make  use  of  them  only,  under  certain 
circumstances. 

Moreover,  about  the  time  of  Ulloa's  arrival  in  Louisiana,  a  dis 
pute  occurred  between  France  and  Spain,  which  for  a  short  time 
endangered  the  continuance  of  their  good  understanding.  A  co 
lony  of  Canadians,  Acadians  and  other  exiles  or  refugees  from 
the  late  French  colonies  in  America,  was  planted  in  1765,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Duke  de  Choiseul,  on  one  of  the  desert  islands 
of  the  Falkland  groupe,  near  the  entrance  of  Magellan's  Strait:. 
The  Spanish  Government  remonstrated  against  this,  as  an  en 
croachment  on  the  rights  of  Spain;  Choiseul  refused  to  admit  the 
existence  of  such  right  to  the  islands  in  question,  and  a  discus 
sion  ensued,  which  might  have  led  to  a  war,  had  not  Louis  XV. 
been  induced,  by  a  personal  application  from  his  cousin,  Charles 
III.  to  order  the  immediate  abandonment  of  the  islands  by  the 
French,  upon  the  repayment  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  M.  de 
Bougainville,  the  founder  of  the  settlement. 

The  happy  termination  of  this  difficulty,  was  probably  in  part 
due,  to  the  disputes  which  had  arisen,  and  were  then  daily  in 
creasing  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  in  consequence  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  log-wood  cutters  of  the  former  nation  from  the 
coasts  of  Yucatan  and  other  places  in  that  quarter  of  America, 
by  the  Spaniards,  in  violation  of  the  seventeenth  article  of  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  as  well  as  from  the  refusal  of  the  Spanish  Govern 
ment,  to  pay  two  millions  of  dollars,  the  balance  of  the  sum  prom 
ised  as  the  ransom  of  Manilla,  after  its  capture  by  the  British  in 
1763.  Another  obstacle  howrever,  to  the  execution  of  the  cession 
of  Louisiana,  immediately  arose  from  the  demand  made  by  the 
French  Government,  that  Spain  should  be  responsible  for  all  the 
expenses  of  the  province,  since  the  date  of  the  acceptance  of  the 
cession;  which  was  accompanied  by  a  decree  from  the  King  of 
France  repudiating  all  the  notes  issued  for  those  purposes 
since  the  year  1762.  The  Court  of  Madrid,  on  being  informed 
of  this  pretension,  and  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  colony  in 


538  DE    PAGES    IN    LOUISIANA.  [1767. 

general,  positively  refused  to  assume  these  debts,  on  the  grounds 
that  no  time  had  been  fixed  for  the  surrender  of  the  country,  and 
that  France  having  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of  the  possession, 
should  pay  all  the  costs;  and  another  long  discussion  followed, 
which  was  terminated  in  the  summer  of  1767,  by  an  agreement, 
that  Spain  should  be  answrerable  only  for  the  debts  contracted 
since  the  arrival  of  Ulloa  in  Louisiana.  Notes  of  acknowledgment 
were  accordingly  issued  by  Messrs.  Loyola,  Navarro  and  Gayarre, 
respectively,  in  the  name  of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  which  the  peo 
ple  were  obliged  to  accept,  as  the  only  return  for  their  labor  or 
for  the  articles  furnished  by  them  ;  the  small  quantities  of  specie 
received  from  Havanna  or  Mexico,  being  used  entirely  in  the 
purchase  of  the  French  notes,  issued  since  Ulloa's  arrival  at 
their  depreciated  value.  Ulloa  was  however  still  unable  to  pro 
claim  the  authority  of  his  Sovereign  over  the  country,  from  the 
want  of  troops  sufficient  to  render  it  effective  in  case  of  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants;  as  all  the  forces  which  could  be 
spared  in  the  West  Indies,  were  required  in  Mexico  and  Cuba, 
to  quell  insurrections  caused  by  the  attempt  to  impose  a  new  sys 
tem  of  taxation,  on  those  countries. 

Louisiana  was  at  this  period  visited  by  Captain  de  Pages,  of 
the  French  Navy,  on  his  way  through  Mexico  to  the  Pacific, 
over  which  he  sailed  to  the  East  Indies.  He  arrived  on  the  28th 
of  July,  1767,  at  New  Orleans,  where  he  spent  only  a  few  days, 
and  then  departed  in  a  canoe  for  Natchitoches  by  way  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Red  rivers.  Of  the  capital  of  Louisiana,  he 
says  nothing  worthy  of  note,  in  the  narrative  published  by  him 
on  his  return  to  France;*  nor  does  he  make  the  slightest  allusion 
to  the  peculiar  political  situation  of  the  countrv,  which  he  seems 
indeed  to  have  considered  as  already  in  the  possession  of  Spain. 
Natchitoches,  he  describes  as  an  extensive  meadow,  interspersed 
with  plantations  of  tobacco  and  Indian  corn,  in  the  middle  of 
which  was  a  square  enclosure  of  palisades,  forming  the  fort, 
with  about  seventy  small  wooden  houses  in  a  straight  line,  but 
situated  at  considerable  distances  apart.  The  houses  were 

*  "Voyage  autour  du  Monde  pendant  les  anne"es  1767-1776.  Par  M.  de  Pag2S 
Capitaine  des  Vaissieux  du  Roi." — 2  vols.  Paris  1782.  Translated  into  English 
and  published  at  London,  in  1783,  under  the  title  of  "Travels  around  the  world, 


1768.]       SPANISH   REGULATIONS    ENFORCED   IN   LOUISIANA.         539 

inconvenient  and  filthy,  the  food  wretched,  and  the  people  ignor 
ant  and  indolent,  though  lively  and  good  natured.  Thence  he 
proceeded  through  the  woods  to  the  first  Spanish  settlement,  at 
Adayes,  which  resembled  that  of  Natchitoches,  but  was  much 
more  miserable  in  every  respect,  the  people  being  nearly  savage ; 
nor  did  he  find  any  indications  of  civilization,  until  his  arrival  at 
San  Antonio  de  Bexar.  That  place  had  then  become  a  town  of 
perhaps  two  thousand  inhabitants,  composed  chiefly  of  people 
from  the  Canary  islands,  and  from  Tlascala  in  Mexico,  of  whom 
a  small  number  had  been  recently  introduced ;  and  Pages  speaks 
in  high  terms  of  praise,  of  the  delightfulness  of  the  climate 
and  of  the  agreeable  dispositions  of  the  ladies,  among  whom  he 
spent  some  time,  contributing  in  return  his  services,  to  the  de 
fence  of  the  place  against  the  usual  annual  attack  by  the  Apaches. 
Leaving  Sari  Antonio  in  the  middle  of  December,  he  continued 
his  journey  through  Laredo,  Saltillo  and  San  Luis  Potosi,  to  Mex 
ico,  and  thence  to  Acapulco  where  he  embarked  in  a  galleon  for 
Manilla.  His  narrative,  though  exhibiting  no  remarkable  infor 
mation,  or  powers  of  observing  and  describing,  is  nevertheless, 
written  in  an  easy  and  unaffected  style;  and  is  valuable,  as  being 
the  earliest  and  for  a  long  time  the  only  particular  account  given 
to  the  world,  of  the  countries  through  which  he  passed,  from  the 
Red  river  to  the  Rio  Bravo,  and  indeed  to  Mexico. 

In  the  meantime,  although  the  authority  of  France  still  sub 
sisted  in  name,  and  to  a  certain  extent  in  fact,  throughout  Louis 
iana,  and  notwithstanding  the  resolution  of  the  Superior  Council, 
that  the  commercial  regulations  proclaimed  by  the  Spanish  Com 
missioner  should  not  have  effect  until  the  completion  of  the  trans 
fer  of  the  country  to  Spain,  changes  had  been  gradually  intro 
duced,  similar  in  many  respects  to  those  proposed  in  the  obnox 
ious  ordinance  repudiated  by  the  Council.  Ships  indeed  arrived 
from  France  and  St.  Domingo,  but  they  all  brought  passports 
from  Spanish  authorities,  without  which  they  were  not  allowed 
to  enter;  nor  could  any  vessel  quit  Louisiana,  for  any  port,  unless 
provided  with  similar  licenses  from  the  Spanish  Commissioner. 
The  importation  of  negroes  from  St.  Domingo  had  been  first  sub 
jected  to  conditions,  and  then  forbidden ;  after  which  the  prohi 
bition  was  made  general.  The  Superior  Council  subsisted,  but 
a  council  had  been  also  instituted  by  Ulloa,  composed  of  the 


540  GREAT    DISCONTENT    IN    LOUISIANA.  [1768. 

Spanish  Intendant,  Commissary  and  Comptroller,  and  other  per 
sons  Spanish  and  French  ;  and  as  neither  of  these  high  bodies 
recognized  the  other  in  any  way,  it  was  impossible  td'prevent  fre 
quent  collisions  between  their  executive  officers.  Aubry  how 
ever,  succeeded  by  great  dexterity,  in  preserving  the  public  tran 
quillity,*  until  the  month  of  October,  1768,  when  this  anomalous 
state  of  things,  was  ended  by  a  sudden  explosion. 

Nearly  six  years  had  then  elapsed  since  the  cession  of  Louis 
iana  to  Spain,  and  four  since  the  fact  had  been  made  known  in 
the  colony.  During  that  period  great  injury  had  been  sustained 
by  the  people  in  their  commerce  and  their  agriculture,  from  the 
restrictive  measures  of  the  Spaniards,  and  still  more  from  the 
general  uncertainty  of  their  condition;  and  a  feeling  of  disgust 
had  arisen  among  them,  not  only  towards  those  whom  they  re 
garded  as  foreign  enemies,  and  oppressors,  but  also  towards  the 
treacherous  Government  of  France,  which  had  thus  basely  aban 
doned  them.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  tone  of  indepen 
dence  which  had  so  much  shocked  D'Abadie,  had  become  strong 
er  arid  more  general;  and  matters  directly  treasonable  towards 
France  as  well  as  Spain,  became  the  subjects  of  open  discussion, 
not  only  in  New  Orleans,  but  also  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
lower  country,  and  especially  among  the  Germans  of  the  Cote 
Allemande,  and  the  Acadians,  who  formed  the  sturdiest  portion 
of  the  population.  The  more  quiet  members  of  the  community 
were  disposed  to  emigrate  to  the  English  territories  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  from  which  they  seem  to  have  been  withheld  chiefly, 
by  a  lingering  hope  of  the  redemption  of  the  paper  money :  but 
the  more  bold  and  ambitious,  were  forming  projects  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  separate  state,  under  the  guarantee  or  the  protec 
tion  of  Great  Britain;  and  to  this  end,  overtures  were  made  in  the 
spring  of  1768,  by  Lafreniere  and  his  partisans,  to  Mr..  John  El 
liott,  who  had  in  the  preceding  year  succeeded  Johnstone  in  the 

*  "  My  position  is  indeed  most  extraordinary;"  writes  Aubry  to  his  Govern 
ment,  on  the  20th  of  January,  1768,  "  while  commanding  for  the  King  of  France, 
I  am  at  the  same  time  governing  the  colony  as  if  it  belonged  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  and  am  forming  Frenchmen  for  subjection  to  Spanish  dominion.  It  is 
by  no  means  flattering  to  me,  to  remain  as  Governor  of  a  colony,  which  under 
goes  so  many  revolutions,  which  has  for  three  years,  not  known  whether  it  be 
French  or  Spanish,  and  which  until  the  possession  be  taken  of  it,  is  properly 
speaking,  without  any  master." 


1768.]     GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  AT  NEW  ORLEANS.         541 

Government  of  West  Florida.  The  proposition  was  however 
decidedly  repelled  by  Elliott,  whose  Government  would  certainly 
not  have  encouraged  such  a  movement,  calculated  to  involve 
Great  Britain  in  difficulties  with  France  and  Spain,  at  a  moment, 
when  its  own  colonies  were  almost  in  rebellion  against  its  au 
thority  ;  and  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  to  Spain  in  Louisiana, 
then  resolved  upon  another  measure  which  could  not  fail  to  pro 
duce  the  most  serious  consequences.  This  was  no  less  than  the 
formal  and  forcible  expulsion  of  the  Spaniards  from  the  coun 
try  ;  and  as  the  co-operation  of  the  whole  people  would  be  re 
quired  to  effect  it,  secret  agents  were  despatched  to  all  the  par 
ishes,  to  induce  them  to  send  delegates  to  another  General  As 
sembly,  to  be  held  at  New  Orleans  in  October. 

So  carefully  had  this  business  been  conducted,  that  the  Com 
mandant  Aubry,  remained  in  entire  ignorance  of  what  was  in 
tended,  until  the  delegates  began  to  arrive  in  New  Orleans.  He 
then  endeavored  to  prevail  on  Lafreniere  and  on  Foucault  who 
appeared  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  Attorney  General,  from 
proceeding  farther;  and  finding  this  impossible,  he  prepared  to 
prevent  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  by  force.  With  this  object 
he  posted  soldiers  at  various  points,  and  caused  the  Spanish 
ship-of-war,  Volante,  which  was  then  lying  in  the  river,  to  anchor 
opposite  the  Place  d'armes  of  New  Orleans;  but  the  other  party 
had  been  equally  alert,  and  on  the  28th  of  October,  the  day  ap 
pointed  for  the  meeting,  eight  hundred  armed  men  from  the  coun 
try,  chiefly  Germans  and  Acadians,  appeared  in  the  city  under 
the  command  of  Messrs,  de  Noyan  and  Villere,  ready  to  protect 
the  Assembly. 

The  Assembly  was  composed  of  the  wealthiest  planters  and 
other  most  notable  persons  of  Louisiana.  The  business  had,  how 
ever,  been  all  arranged  previously  by  Lafreniere,  the  lawyer 
Doucet,  the  merchant  Caresse,  Jean  Milhet  who  had  just  return 
ed  from  his  mission  to  France,  and  the  other  chiefs  of  the  move 
ment,  who  explained  their  views  in  speeches;  and  it  was  on  the 
first  day  determined,  that  a  memorial  should  be  addressed  to  the 
Council,  setting  forth  the  grievances  of  the  province,  and  praying 
that  means  should  be  taken  for  its  relief.  The  task  of  drawing 
up  this  memorial,  was  assigned  to  Caresse,  who  soon  produced 
such  a  paper,  written  probably  by  Lafreniere,  wherein  the  Coun- 


542  ULLOA    EXPELLED    FROM    LOUISIANA.  [1768. 

cil  was  solicited,  or  rather  summoned,  immediately  to  cause 
Ulloa  and  his  Spaniards  to  be  expelled  from  the  country,  as  ille 
gal  disturbers  of  the  public  peace.  This  paper  was  signed  by 
the  other  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  by  many  citizens  of 
.New  Orleans  and  its  vicinity,  to  the  number  of  more  than  five 
hundred,  and  was  presented  to  the  Superior  Council  on  the  same 
day.  Five  members  of  that  body,  having  declared  themselves 
unable  from  sickness  to  attend,  others  were  appointed  to  act  in 
their  stead,  as  wras  allowed  by  the  law  on  extraordinary  occa 
sions  :  the  memorial  was  examined  by  a  committee,  who  re 
ported  in  its  favor;  and  Lafreniere  as  Attorney  General,  having 
sustained  the  report  by  his  opinion,  a  decree  was  issued  on  the 
following  day,  by  unanimous  consent  of  the  council,  entirely  in 
accordance  with  the  desires  of  the  petitioners. 

By  this  decree,  all  the  acts  of  Ulloa  since  his  arrival  in  the  coun 
try,  were  pronounced  illegal,  as  he  had  never  caused  his  powers  to 
be  examined  and  registered  by  the  Superior  Council,  and  those 
acts  were  moreover  at  variance  with  the  order  of  the  King  of  France 
to  D'Abadie,  which  guarantied  freedom  of  trade  to  the  colony, 
and  the  continuance  of  its  laws  and  establishments :  and  for  these 
reasons,  the  council  ordered  that  the  Spanish  Commissioner  and 
all  the  other  subjects  of  that  nation  should  be  immediately  re 
moved  from  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  Navarro,  Loyola, 
and  Gayarre,  who  were  to  be  held  personally  responsible  for  the 
redemption  of  the  notes,  issued  in  their  names,  in  payment  for 
supplies  or  labor,  until  it  should  appear,  that  they  had  been 
authorised  so  to  do,  by  the  King  of  Spain ;  finally,  Messrs.  Au- 
bry  and  Foucault,  were  requested  to  join  the  Superior  Council, 
in  conducting  the  administration  of  the  province,  and  in  endea 
voring  to  obtain  from  the  King  of  France,  the  confirmation  of  its 
privileges,  agreeably  to  his  royal  promise. 

Aubry  and  Foucault  immediately  protested  against  this  decree, 
as  being  illegal,  and  offensive  to  the  Kings  of  France  and  Spain 
equally:  but  their  objections  were  not  received  by  the  Council; 
and  Aubry  finding  himself  unable  to  resist  the  torrent  of  popular 
will,  advised  the  Spanish  Commissioner  to  comply  with  its  re 
quisitions.  Ulloa  accordingly  left  the  city,  on  the  1st  of  Novem 
ber,  in  a  French  vessel;  and  after  a  short  stay  at  the  Balise,  he 
continued  his  voyage  to  Havanna,  where  he  arrived  on  the  4th 


1769.  ]  PETITION    TO    THE    KING    OF    FRANCE.  543 

of  December.  The  Spanish  Commissary,  Intendant,  and  Comp 
troller,  who  were  detained  agreeably  to  the  decree,  refused  to  ad 
mit  the  authority  of  the  Council,  and  declared  themselves  pri 
soners  ;  and  the  Commandants  of  the  various  Spanish  garrisons 
in  like  manner  submitted  to  the  necessity  imposed  on  them. 
The  ship-of-war  however,  still  remained  in  the  river,  below  New 
Orleans,  under  the  pretext  of  being  unfit  for  sea,  until  the  month 
of  April,  1769,  when  she  was  forced  to  take  her  departure. 

Immediately  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Spanish  Commissioner, 
the  authors  of  the  act  began  to  prepare  for  its  justification.  Wit 
nesses  were  examined,  and  their  depositions  were  taken,  proving 
the  commission  of  various  deeds  which  were  pronounced  illegal, 
as  being  contrary  to  the  established  laws  of  the  colony,  and  the 
authority  of  its  Superior  Council ;  and  official  copies  of  these 
documents  were  sent  with  a  letter  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Af 
fairs  of  France,  accompanied  by  a  petition  or  representation  to 
the  King,  earnestly  praying  that  the  colony  might  not  be  surren 
dered  to  Spain.  Letters  were  also  addressed  to  the  Minister  by 
Aubry  and  Foucault,  each  of  whom  endeavored  to  extenuate  the 
proceedings,  and  to  show  that  he  himself  had  done  all  in  his 
power,  to  restrain  them. 

The  petition  addressed  to  the  King  of  France  by  the  Superior 
Council,  presented  a  picture  of  the  state  of  Louisiana  at  the  time 
of  the  arrival  of  Ulloa,  very  different  from  that  given  by  D'Aba- 
die  two  years  previous.  According  to  this  petition,  the  colony 
was  then  in  the  most  flourishing  condition,  and  exhibited  every 
mark  of  successful  industry :  lands,  houses,  and  negroes  all 
bore  high  prices ;  the  trade  with  the  Indians  was  carried  to  the 
utmost  exremities  of  the  continent;  the  river  was  crowded  with 
vessels  from  France,  the  West  Indies,  and  other  countries,  and 
specie  flowed  in  abundantly,  from  the  Spanish  provinces.  The 
order  to  D'Abadie  for  the  surrender  of  the  province  to  Spain,  had 
indeed  been  received  with  grief,  by  the  inhabitants,  who  glory  in 
the  name  of  Frenchmen;  but  it  guarantied  their  tranquillity  and 
welfare,  as  it  assured  them,  that  they  should  be  governed  as  be 
fore,  according  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  country ;  and  not 
withstanding  the  cession,  they  considered  themselves  always  as 
subjects  of  Louis  the  Well  Beloved,  under  whose  beneficent  rule, 
dispensed  by  pure  and  virtuous  officers,  nothing  was  wanting  to 


544  LOUIS    LE    BIENAIME.  [1769. 

complete  their  happiness.  These  flattering  prospects  had  how 
ever  been  all  dissipated  by  the  Spanish  Commissioner,  who  had 
invaded  and  annulled  the  privileges,  thus  guarantied  to  them,  not 
withstanding  the  positive  assurances  contained  in  his  letter  from 
Havarma,  that  they  would  be  respected  ;  their  commerce  had 
been  ruined  by  odious  restrictions  and  prohibitions  ;  their  feelings 
had  been  shocked  by  innovations  in  their  social  system;  arbi 
trary  acts  of  all  kinds  had  been  daily  committed,  and  even  the 
Superior  Council,  established  and  confirmed  by  His  Majesty,  on 
attempting  to  stay  these  evils,  had  been  treated  with  contempt, 
and  actually  superseded,  by  the  creation  of  another  body,  under 
the  same  title.  Such  acts  could  not  be  borne  by  Frenchmen; 
and  Ulloa,  the  author  of  them  all,  had  been  pronounced  by  unani 
mous  acclaim,  the  enemy  of  the  people.  The  whole  colony  had 
with  one  voice  demanded  his  expulsion ;  and  the  Superior  Coun 
cil,  after  maturely  weighing  the  circumstances,  and  being  assured 
by  M.  Aubry  that  Ulloa  had  produced  no  powers  or  titles  to  jus 
tify  his  conduct,  had  issued  the  decree  for  his  expulsion,  as  a 
disturber  of  the  public  tranquillity,  which  had  been  carried  into 
execution,  while  the  air  resounded  with  the  cry  of — Long  live  our 
King  Louis  the  Well  Beloved.* 

It  may  easily  be  seen,  that  Lafreniere  and  his  associates  in 
these  proceedings,  were  imitating  the  conduct  of  the  people  of  the 
British  colonies  at  the  same  period,  in  resistance  to  the  attempts 
of  the  Government  of  the  mother  country,  to  tax  them  and  to 
quarter  soldiers  among  them,  agreeably  to  the  decrees  of  a  Par 
liament,  in  which  the  colonies  were  not  represented.  There  was 
however,  a  wide  difference  between  the  two  resisting  parties 
in  the  course  which  they  respectively  pursued,  to  attain  their 
ends.  The  supporters  and  representatives  of  the  people  of  the 
English  provinces,  in  all  their  addresses,  petitions,  and  remon 
strances  to  the  Government,  were  scrupulously  exact  as  to  facts, 
leaving  their  opponents  no  other  grounds  for  reply,  than  those 
which  might  be  afforded  by  their  reasonings  and  deductions ; 

*Le  Bienaime — the  title  bestowed  on  the  King,  by  the  people  of  Paris,  on  his 
recovery  from  a  dangerous  illness  in  1744.  Louis  XV.  is  said  to  have  been  as 
much  surprised  as  pleased  with  this  mark  of  the  affection  of  his  people,  and  to 
have  honestly  acknowledged,  that  "  he  did  not  know  what  he  had  ever  done  to 
merit  it." 


stipulation  or  reservation  of  any  kind  respecting  the  rights  of  the 
inhabitants,  or  their  treatment  by  their  new  masters;  nor  did 
Louis  XV.  in  his  letter  to  D'Abadie  do  more  than  express  his 
"  hopes  and  persuasions"  that  the  privileges  already  enjoyed  and 
the  religious  and  administrative  establishments,  usages  and  regula 
tions  already  subsisting  in  the  colony  would  be  maintained ;  nor 
did  Ulloa  in  his  letter  announcing  his  appointment  and  approach 
ing  arrival  in  Louisiana  to  receive  the  possession,  promise  any 
thing,  except  in  general  terms  of  courtesy,  that  he  would  be  happy 
to  render  any  service  in  his  power  to  the  Council  and  the  inhabi 
tants.  Spain  had  certainly  not  taken  possession  of  the  country 
in  the  manner  supposed,  and  with  justice,  to  be  requisite  in  such 
cases;  nor  does  it  appear,  that  the  person  styling  himself  the 
Commissioner  of  that  nation,  had  ever  exhibited  to  the  authorities 
found  by  him  in  the  colony,  who  were  entitled  to  require  it,  any 
power  or  title  to  act  in  such  capacity:  yet  the  fact  that  he  was 
so  commissioned  by  his  Government,  notwithstanding  his  neglect 
to  comply  with  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  French  laws,  was 
abundantly  proved,  by  the  conduct  of  the  Commandant  Aubry 
and  the  Commissary  Foucault,  the  highest  French  authorities  of 
the  colony,  who  were  known  to  be  in  constant  correspondence 
with  the  Government  of  France,  in  openly  recognizing  him  as 
Commissioner,  and  co-operating  in  the  execution  of  his  measures. 
Under  these  circumstances,  to  regard  Ulloa  simply  as  a  foreigner 
illegally  disturbing  the  tranquillity  of  the  country,  was  an  absur 
dity,  and  it  must  have  been  felt  to  be  so,  by  those  who  made  the 
declaration;  and  while  it  was  criminal  to  disseminate  such  ideas 
among  the  ignorant  people  of  Louisiana,  and  thus  to  lead  them 
on  to  acts,  the  evil  consequences  of  which  must  have  been  clearly 
foreseen  as  inevitable,  it  was  ridiculous  to  expect  to  excuse  those 
acts,  or  avert  those  consequences,  by  presenting  to  the  French 
Government,  reasons  or  apologies  utterly  destitute  of  foundation. 
The  documents  above  mentioned  from  the  Superior  Council  of 
Louisiana,  were  carried  to  France  in  the  spring  of  1769,  by  three 
Deputies,  M.  de  Bienville  a  grand  nephew  of  the  late  Governor 
69 


546  NEW    MISSION    TO    PARIS    FRUITLESS.  [1769. 

of  that  name  (who  had  died  in  the  preceding  year,)  M.  ]e  Sacier 
a  syndic  of  commerce  of  New  Orleans  and  member  of  the  Supe 
rior  Council,  and  M.  de  Saintelette  a  wealthy  proprietor  of  the 
colony.  They  arrived  at  Paris  in  March,  and  presented  their 
papers  to  the  Duke  de  Choiseul,  who  received  Saintelette  as  an 
old  acquaintance,  but  refused  to  communicate  with  the  others  in 
any  way.  They  were,  however,  induced  to  believe,  that  the  ces 
sion  to  Spain  would  be  recalled,  and  such  was  the  tenor  of  their 
letters  to  their  friends  in  Louisiana;  until  at  length  in  the  begin 
ning  of  May,  Choiseul  unexpectedly  informed  Saintelette,  that 
nothing  could  be  done  in  compliance  with  the  petition  of  those 
who  sent  him,  as  the  King  of  Spain  had  already  despatched  a 
large  body  of  troops  to  establish  his  supremacy  in  the  territory 
ceded  to  him.  The  deputies  were  allowed  to  remain  undisturbed 
at  Paris,  and  even  to  publish  their  documents  in  the  Gazette, 
much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  Spanish  Government,  which  after 
wards  replied  to  them  through  the  newspapers  of  Vienna  and 
Leyden;  and  they  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  the  King  of  France 
an  order  for  the  conversion  of  all  the  bons  and  other  securities 
given  in  his  name  before  the  arrival  of  Ulloa,  into  a  stock  amount 
ing  to  three-fifths  of  their  nominal  value,  and  bearing  interest  of 
five  per  cent,  until  its  redemption. 

The  statement  of  the  French  minister,  with  regard  to  the  des 
patch  of  a  large  body  of  Spanish  troops  to  Louisiana,  was  per 
fectly  correct.  Ulloa,  on  reaching  Havanna,  found  there  eight 
hundred  soldiers,  who  had  recently  arrived  under  the  direction 
of  Don  Juan  Ignacio  Urriza  appointed  Intendant  of  Louisiana,  on 
their  way  to  that  country;  the  Commissioner  however  did  not 
consider  it  prudent  to  return  with  them  to  New  Orleans,  and  it 
was  agreed  that  they  should  remain  in  Cuba  until  farther  orders 
were  received  from  Spain,  whither  he  proceeded  directly  to  com 
municate  what  had  occurred.* 

On  the  arrival  of  the  news  of  these  events  at  Mad?id,  a  council 
of  the  ministers  was  convened,  in  which,  after  long  deliberation, 
it  was  resolved,  that  the  cession  of  Louisiana  should  be  accepted, 

"Ulloa  never  returned  to  America.  He  afterwards  reached  a  high  grade  in 
the  Spanish  navy,  though"  he  was  more  distinguished  for  his  contributions  to  sci 
ence,  than  for  his  skill  and  success  on  the  ocean.  He  died  at  Cadiz  on  the  3rd 
of  July,  1795,  in  the  80th  year  of  hi 


1769.]         O'REILLY  SENT  TO  RECEIVE  LOUISIANA.  547 

on  the  grounds — that  an  invariable  line  of  separation  between  the 
English  and  the  Spanish  possessions  would  thus  be  established  ; 
that  the  contraband  trade  of  the  French  with  the  other  Spanish 
dominions  would  be  abolished,  and  that  of  the  English  would  be 
greatly  diminished  ;  that  Louisiana  might  be  rendered  advanta 
geous  to  the  more  southern  colonies  of  Spain,  especially  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico,  by  supplying  them  with  corn  and  other  articles  which 
they  could  not  produce;  that  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  pos 
session,  would  not  exceed  that  which  had  been  required  for  hold 
ing  Florida,  and  it  might  be  greatly  lessened,  by  the  abandonment 
of  the  forts  in  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  which  would  be  rendered 
useless  ;  and  finally,  that  if  France  should  retain  Louisiana,  her 
merchants  would  be  enabled  to  carry  on  a  much  more  extensive 
contraband  trade  with  the  Spanish  dominions  than  before.*  The 
King  having  approved  this  resolution,  measures  were  taken  to 
carry  it  into  immediate  execution;  and  the  task  was  committed 
to  Lieutenant  General  Alexandro  O'Reilly,  an  Irishman  who  had 
seen  much  service  in  Europe  and  the  West  Indies,  and  was  then 
about  to  depart  for  Cuba  and  Mexico,  on  a  tour  of  inspection  of 
the  troops  and  fortresses.  He  was  accordingly  commissioned 
on  the  29th  of  October,  1768,  to  proceed  to  Louisiana,  where  he 
was  to  take  possession  of  the  country  for  the  King,  to  chastise 
'the  principal  leaders  of  the  late  rebellious  movements,  and  regu 
late  the  government  on  the  same  system  which  was  established 
in  the  other  colonies  of  the  Indies,  f  Some  time  was  required  for 
preparations  in  Spain,  on  the  completion  of  which,  O'Reilly  sailed 
from  Cadiz  for  Havanna;  and  from  the  latter  place,  he  took  his 
departure  on  the  6th  of  July,  1769,  writh  a  large  fleet  carrying 
nearly  four  thousand  soldiers,  and  abundant  supplies  of  provisions, 
ammunition  and  money,  for  the  Mississippi. 

Meanwhile  the  excitement  was  kept  up  in  Louisiana  by  La- 
freniere  and  his  associates,  who  encouraged  by  the  first  commu 
nications  from  their  deputies  in  Paris,  assured  the  people  that  the 
country  would  not  be  surrendered  to  the  Spaniards,  and  inveigled 

*  These  reasons  are  set  forth,  in  a  despatch  from  the  Spanish  Minister  of  State 
Marquis  de  Grimaldi,  to  the  Conde  de  Fuentes  Ambassador  at  Paris. 

f  See.  the  Royal  order  of  January  28th,  1771,  containing  an  abstract  of  the 
various  measures,  which  had  been  taken  with  regard  to  Louisiana,  in  White's 
New  Recopilacion,  vol.  2,  page  164. 


548  REPUBLIC    PROPOSED    IN    LOUISIANA.  [1769. 

their  imaginations  by  numerous  extravagant  schemes  for  its  ad 
vancement.  Aubry  on  the  other  hand,  exerted  himself  to  calm 
the  agitation,  and  prevent  excesses  which  could  only  serve  to  in 
flame  the  fury  of  the  Spaniards;  but  his  efforts  at  conciliation 
\vere  for  some  time  unavailing,  and  whenever  he  ventured  to 
employ  force,  he  was  compelled  to  desist,  by  the  immediate  dis 
play  of  the  overpowering  superiority  of  the  opposite  party.  In 
this  manner,  the  Spanish  ship  of  war  which  had  remained  in  the 
Mississippi,  was  compelled  to  leave  the  river  in  April,  1767;  and 
the  officers  of  that  nation  who  were  left  in  the  country,  were 
daily  subjected  to  violence  and  insult. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  summer  however,  all  expectation  that 
Louisiana  would  be  retained  by  France,  had  vanished,  and  it 
became  certain,  that  the  Spaniards  were  preparing  to  establish 
their  supremacy  by  arms.  Another  appeal  was  then  made  by  the 
leaders  of  the  movement  to  the  British  authorities  at  Pensacola, 
to  take  the  country  under  the  protection  of  their  Government,  or 
even  under  its  authority;  and  this  having  been  rejected  more 
positively  than  before,  it  was  wildly  proposed  to  establish  a  Re 
public,  with  a  legislative  council  of  forty  members,  and  an  execu 
tive  chief  styled  a  protector,  all  elected  by  the  people.  The  pro 
position  seems  however  not  to  have  been  carried  beyond  some 
discussion  in  conversation  and  in  printed  papers,  without  any 
specific  act  of  adhesion,  or  of  animadversion  either  by  the  Supe 
rior  Council,  or  by  any  assembly  of  the  people  or  their  represen 
tatives  ;  nor  does  any  individual  appear  to  have  been  compromis 
ed  by  it.  The  leaders  of  the  movement  wrere  in  fact  losing 
ground,  and  rapidly  falling  into  a  minority,  especially  since  a 
prospect  had  been  presented  of  the  redemption  of  the  paper»mo- 
ney,  by  the  French  Government;  and  Aubry  who  had  been  in 
formed  of  the  overtures  made  by  Lafreniere  and  his  associates  to 
the  British  authorities,  and  had  even,  as  reported,  received  from 
the  Governor  of  West  Florida  copies  of  the  correspondence  on 
that  subject,  made  use  of  these  facts  to  lessen  their  consideration 
among  the  people.* 

*Thc  following  account  of  the  surrender  of  Louisiana  to  O'Reilly,  is  derived 
chiefly  from  Gayarre",  who  presents  a  number  of  interesting  documents  obtained 
from  the  archives  of  France  ;  and  from  a  manuscript  copy  of  a  Spanish  official 
report  of  the  circumstances,  procured  from  Madrid. 


1769.]          ARRIVAL    OF    o'REILLY    IN    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  549 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  agitation  in  Louisiana  was  ra 
pidly  subsiding;  and  the  Commandant  had  organized  a  guard  of 
four  hundred  men  at  New  Orleans,  to  maintain  the  peace,  when, 
on  the  24th  of  July,  accounts  were  received  of  the  arrival  at  the 
Balise,  of  the  Spanish  squadron  under  O'Reilly,  for  the  occupa 
tion  of  the  country,  in  the  name  of  His  Catholic  Majesty.  This 
news  of  course  occasioned  universal  consternation.  A  few  of 
the  most  extravagant  leaders  of  the  movement  against  Spain,  en 
deavored  to  prevail  on  the  people  to  resist  the  invaders;  and 
messengers  were  sent  to  summon  the  Acadians  and  the  Germans 
to  the  rescue.  The  call  however  was  unanswered,  from  the  ob 
vious  consideration,  that  the  Spanish  troops  then  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  fully  provided  with  all  the  means  and  appli 
ances  of  war,  actually  exceeded  in  number  the  whole  white  male 
population  of  the  colony;  and  the  proposition  then  made  to  the 
people  of  New  Orleans  to  burn  their  city,  and  retire  in  a  body  to 
the  British  territory,  was  received  with  still  less  favor  by  those  to 
whom  it  was  addressed.  All  signs  of  excitement  and  defiance 
thus  soon  disappeared:  the  white  cockades  which  had  been  uni 
versally  worn  by  the  agitators,  were  removed  from  every  hat;  the 
Spanish  officers  who  had  been  held  in  durance  ever  since  the 
expulsion  of  Ulloa,  resumed  their  swords,  with  haughty  ominous 
looks;  and  Lafreniere  with  other  chiefs  of  the  party  thus  over 
thrown,  came  to  Aubry,  to  solicit  his  mediation  in  their  behalf. 

At  midnight  on  the  25th,  Don  Francisco  Bouligny  arrived  at 
New  Orleans,  with  communications  from  the  Spanish  commander- 
in-chief,  to  the  head  of  the  French  administration  in  Louisiana, 
announcing  his  presence  in  the  Mississippi,  and  his  purposes. 
This  officer  was  received  on  the  levee,  with  appropriate  signs  of 
respect,  by  Loyola,  Gayarre  and  Navarro,  in  the  midst  of  a  silent 
crowd  of  people ;  and  was  then  immediately  conducted  to  Aubry, 
who  early  on  the  following  morning  publicly  proclaimed  the 
arrival  of  the  Spaniards.  Lafreniere,  Marquis  and  Milhet,  who 
were  in  fact  the  authors  of  all  the  movements  against  Spain,  then 
appeared,  offering  themselves  to  bear  to  O'Reilly  the  assurances 
of  the  submission  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  authority  represented 
by  him,  as  well  as  of  their  attachment  and  esteem  for  his  person; 
and  their  offer  being  accepted,  they  proceeded,  in  company  with 
Bouligny  to  the  Balise,  where  the  Spanish  squadron  lay  at  anchor. 


550      INTERVIEW   BETWEEN  O^REILLY  AND   LAFRENIERE.     [1769 

These  deputies*  were   treated  with  the  utmost  courtesy  by  the 

*The  particulars  of  this  interview  are  thus  related  in  the  Spanish  repoit : 

*  The  people  being  made  aware  of  the  dangers  of  their  position,  determined, 
after  several  discussions,  to  appoint  three  deputies,  to  compliment  the  General, 
and  implore  his  clemency ;  and  for  this  object  they  appointed  Messrs.  Lafreni£re, 
Marquis  and  Milhet.  These  deputies  returned  with  the  officer,  who  had  brought 
the  letter  to  the  Commandant ;  in  forty  hours  they  reached  the  ship  in  which 
the  General  resided,  and  there  M.  Lafrfcniere  addressed  him  thus: 

"M.  Marquis,  late  Commandant  of  the  Company  of  Swiss,  M.  Milhet  mer 
chant  and  Lieutenant  of  militia,  and  myself  the  King's  Attorney  General  and  an 
inhabitant  .of  this  country,  have  been  chosen  to  come  and  assure  Your  Excellency 
of  their  submission  of  the  colony  to  the  orders  of  His  Most  Christian  Majesty 
and  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  of  their  veneration  for  the  virtues  and  military 
talents,  which  have  placed  Your  Excellency  in  the  position  now  occupied  by  you. 
We  are  charged  to  assure  Your  Excellency,  of  the  profound  respect  entertained 
in  the  colony  for  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  of  their  love  for  His  Most  Christian 
Majesty,  and  the  whole  Bourbon  family.  The  colony  has  never  entertained  the 
slightest  intention,  of  failing  in  any  way,  in  the  profound  respect  which  it  pro 
fesses  towards  the  great  Monarch,  whom  Your  Excellency  represents.  The 
austere  character  of  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  privileges 
assured  to  us  by  the  Act  of  Cession,  have  been  the  causes  of  the  revolutions  in 
this  colony.  We  entreat  Your  Excellency  not  to  regard  it  as  a  conquered  coun 
try  ;  the  orders  borne  by  Your  Excellency  are  sufficient  to  insure  to  you  the  pos 
session  of  the  country,  and  to  produce  more  effect  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people 
than  your  arms.  The  French  are  docile,  and  accustomed  to  be  governed  with 
mildness,  and  Your  Excellency  will  find  us  all  submissire  to  the  orders  of  the 
two  sovereigns.  The  colony  implores  Your  Excellency,  to  protect  its  privileges, 
and  to  grant  a  sufficient  delay,  to  those  who  may  choose  to  quit  it.' 

"Don  Alexandro  O'Reilly  heard  this  address  without  interrupting  it, and  with 
all  the  seriousness  and  dignity  which  characterize  him,  he  replied  as  follows: 

'Gentlemen — It  is  impossible  to  form  a  correct  judgment,  without  a  know 
ledge  of  the  circumstances,  and  it  shall  be  my  care  to  inquire  into  those  relating 
to  this  affair,  so  soon  as  I  reach  New  Orleans.  You  may  be  assured,  that  it  will 
be  my  chief  pleasure  to  act  :with  kindness,  and  that  I  shall  deeply  regret  to  be 
obliged  to  injure  any  person.  I  will  be  the  first  to  afford  you  all  the  means  for 
quieting  your  apprehensions,  and  those  of  the  people,  and  convincing  them  of 
the  kind  dispositions  to  which  my  character  prompts  me.  I  am  much  pleased 
with  the  part  which  you  have  taken.  Be  assured  that  I  would  have  caused 
my  sovereign's  flag  to  be  respected,  and  that  nothing  could  have  prevented 
me  from  so  doing;  such  was  my  resolution,  and  I  should  have  ascended  the 
river  to  the  Illinois,  if  it  had  been  necessary  to  effect  it.  Men  are  often  carried 
away  in  moments  of  high  excitement;  but  how  could  you,  a  mere  handful  of 
men,  believe  yourselves  capable  of  making  head  against  one  of  the  most  power 
ful  kings  of  Europe  ?  How  could  you  suppose,  that  your  king,  united  as  he  is  to 
my  master  by  the  bonds  of  blood  and  of  strictest  amity,  would  have  ever  sus 
tained  you,  or  hav.e  listened  to  the  cries  of  a  seditious  people?'  Here  Marquis 
endeavored  to  explain  ;  but  he  was  interrupted  by  the  General  with — '  Be  quiet 
gentlemen  ;  I  will  hear  you  at  the  proper  time.  I  am  aware  that  things  often 
appear  very  dark  at  a  distance,  which  are  light  when  viewed  in  their  vicinity." 


1709.]  SURRENDER    OF    LOUialXNA     1  •  >     o  i- -\  I  N  .  551 

General,  who  after  reprehending  them  somewhat  severely  for 
their  folly,  promised  to  afford  every  mt\uis  which  they  could 
desire  for  their  justification;  he  then  invited  them  to  dine,  and 
on  their  return  with  Bouligny  to  New  Orleans,  they  assured  that 
officer  of  their  admiration  for  the  talents  and  sauvity  of  his  chief, 
and  expressed  the  most  confident  hopes,  that  their  past  delin 
quencies  would  be  consigned  to  oblivion, 

O'Reilly  remained  at  the  Balise,  until  the  middle  of  August, 
when  the  preparations  for  his  reception  at  New  Orleans  being 
completed,  he  ascended  that  river  in  a  frigate,  accompanied  by  a 
fleet  of  smaller  vessels,  and  anchored  in  front  of  the  city,  on  the 
17th  of  the  month.  On  the  following  day,  he  landed  w7ith  three 
thousand  men,  on  the  Place-d'armes,  or  grand  square,  looking 
upon  the  river,  where  the  French  troops  and  militia  were  drawn 
up:  he  then  delivered  to  the  Commandant  Aubry  his  commission 
to  receive  the  possession  of  the  province,  which  being  duly  ac 
knowledged,  the  keys  of  the  four  gates  of  the  city  were  presented 
to  him,  while  the  flag  of  Spain  replaced  that  of  France  amid  the 
roar  of  cannon  and  musketry. 

Thus  ended  the  dominion  of  France  in  North  America,  after  a 
painful  existence,  or  rather  struggle  for  existence,  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  years,  during  which  it  had  produced  as  little  ad 
vantage  as  was  possible,  either  to  the  mother  country,  or  to  its 
subjects,  or  to  the  cause  of  civilization  and  humanity;  and  taking 
subsequent  events  into  consideration,  few  will  be  found,  at  the 
present  time,  bold  enough  to  regret  its  dissolution.  Whether  from 
peculiarities  in  the  national  character  of  the  French,  or  from  er 
roneous  views  of  the  nature  and  objects  of  colonies  on  the  part 
of  their  Government,  leading  to  an  erroneous  system  of  adminis 
tration,  or  more  probably  from  both  these  causes  combined,  they 
have  been  most  unfortunate  in  their  establishments  in  new  coun 
tries;  and  their  attempts  with  that  object,  in  North  America,  have 
always  presented  a  contrast  most  unfavorable  to  them,  with  those 
of  the  English.  These  French  colonies,  howsoever  founded, 
were  maintained  for  political  purposes  entirely,  with  the  view  of 
counterbalancing  or  overthrowing  the  rising  dominion  of  Great 
Britain,  in  that  division  of  the  New  World;  but  as  in  the  mother 
country,  so  in  its  transatlantic  possessions,  every  thing  was  to  be 
regulated  according  to  the  will  of  the  despotic  monarch,  to  whose 


552    REFLECTIONS  ON  OVERTHROW  OF  THE  FRENCH.    [1769. 

honor  and  glory,  they  were  to  be  solely  subservient.  In  Louis 
iana  this  system  of  mis-government  was  carried  to  the  utmost 
extent.  Colonists  were  sent  out,  in  numbers  sufficient,  and  vast 
sums  were  drawn  from  the  national  treasury  for  the  support  of 
the  establishments;  but  liberty,  individual  as  well  as  political, 
was  restricted  even  more  than  in  France,  and  individual  enter 
prise  was  trammelled  in  every  possible  way,  by  taxes  and  regu 
lations  arbitrarily  imposed,  without  regard  for  the  welfare  of  those 
who  were  expected  to  carry  these^great  political  ends  into  execu 
tion.  Every  man  was  there  required  to  labor,  and  to  buy  and  to 
sell,  only  according  to  certain  rules  devised  in  Paris;  and  every 
livre  was  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  certain  court  fa 
vorites,  whose  only  object  was  to  enrich  themselves  as  speedily 
as  possible:  nothing  being  left  to  the  judgment  of  those  most 
deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  colony.  The  wars  with 
the  Indians  in  which  Louisiana  was  constantly  involved,  through 
the  ambition  of  its  governors,  formed  another  cancer,  consuming 
its  resources  aud  paralysing  the  industry  of  the  people;  while  the 
nation  was,  on  almost  every  occasion,  humiliated  by  their  unfor 
tunate  results. 

The  British  Government  on  the  contrary,  fortunately  for  its 
colonies  in  America,  had  no  system  for  their  regulation,  and  in 
deed  paid  very  little  attention  to  them  in  any  way,  farther  than 
was  necessary  to  secure  the  monopoly  of  their  commerce;  and 
this  too  was  done,  more  by  the  enticement  of  superior  advan 
tages,  than  by  actual  restrictions  which,  as  experience  occa 
sionally  demonstrated,  were  not  to  be  enforced  without  consider 
able  difficulty  and  expense,  and  danger  of  provoking  resistance. 
The  settlement  of  their  disputes  with  the  Indians  were  moreover 
left  almost  entirely  to  themselves;  and  their  wars  with  those 
people,  undertaken  either  in  self  defence,  or  for  the  attainment 
of  some  well  defined  end,  generally  the  acquisition  of  territory 
for  immediate  occupation,  were  usually  conducted  with  little  ex 
penditure  either  of  blood*  or  treasure  on  their  part,  and  were  in 
most  cases  terminated  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  their  interests 
and  their  honor.  The  ill  success  of  the  French  in  their  colonies, 
as  compared  with  the  results  obtained  by  the  English,  in  every 
region  in  which  they  have  attempted  to  establish  themselves,  is 
also  no  doubt  in  some  measure  to  be  attributed  to  that  perse- 


1769.]         TRIAL    OF    LAFRENIERE    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  553 

verance  under  adverse  circumstances,  so  indispensable  for  those 
who  attempt  the  settlement  of  new  countries,  and  which  has 
been  displayed  in  a  much  higher  degree  by  the  Anglo  Saxons 
than  by  the  French,  or  any  other  nation  of  modern  times. 

The  French  dominion  in  Louisiana  was  indeed  restored,  Icng 
after  this  surrender  to  Spain,  though  it  was  only  in  form,  and  for 
a  moment.  Among  those  who  witnessed  the  ceremony  of  that 
surrender  in  1769,  some  lived  to  see  the  national  flag  of  France — 
not  the  royal  white  and  fleurs-de-lys  of  the  Bourbons,  but  the 
republican  tri-color  of  the  consuls — displayed  in  the  Place- 
d'armes  of  New  Orleans;  but  this  was  in  token,  not  of  real  pos 
session,  but  merely  of  safe-keeping  of  the  country  for  a  few 
days,  until  its  surrender  to  a  people,  fortunately  possessing  the 
ability  and  the  will  to  develope  its  great  resources. 

The  surrender  of  Louisiana  to  Spain  was  however  not  to  be 
consummated  without  a  bloody  tragedy.  The  outraged  dignity 
of  the  Catholic  monarch  was  to  be  avenged,  and  his  new  subjects 
were  to  reaeive  a  lesson  in  obedience,  sufficiently  impressive  to 
prevent  all  future  attempts  at  insubordination.  On  the. day  after 
the  surrender,  the  new  Governor  required  from  the  former  Com 
mandant,  a  detailed  account  of  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  expulsion  of  Ulloa,  and  particularly  a  list  of  the  individuals 
concerned  in  writing  and  publishing  the  decree  of  the  Superior 
Council  dated  October  29th,  1768,  and  the  memorial  addressed 
in  the  following  month,  by  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  to  the 
King  of  France,  in  defence  of  their  proceedings.  In  answer, 
Aubry  presented  a  statement  of  all  that  had  occurred,  since  the 
arrival  of  the  first  Spanish  Commissioner,  accompanied  by  copies 
of  all  the  papers  relating  to  those  affairs;  and  he  designated 
"Messieurs  de  Masan  a  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis,  Lafreniere  the 
Attorney  General,  Marquis  a  retired  Commandant  of  the  Swiss 
company  in  Louisiana,  Villere  the  Captain  of  the  militia  of  the 
German  settlement,  Noyan  a  retired  Captain  of  Cavalry  and  Bien- 
ville  his  brother  an  ensign  in  the  navy,  all  rich  and  distinguished 
persons  in  the  country,  as  the  chiefs  of  this  criminal  enterprise," 
while  he  also  threw  great  blame  on  Foucault  for  his  conduct. 

Having  received  this  report,  O'Reilly  held  a  grand  levee  on 
the  21st,  at  which  were  present  all  the  principal  persons  of  New 
Orleans.  There  he  exhibited  to  Aubry  in  private,  the  orders  of 
70 


554  DEATH    OF    VILLERE.  [1769. 

his  sovereign  to  seize  and  punish  those  who  were  engaged  in  in 
stigating  the  late  rebellious  proceedings;  and  then  at  a  given 
signal,  all  the  persons  accused  who  were  present,  were  seized 
and  carried  away  as  prisoners.  Others  were  subsequently  arrest 
ed,  and  a  commission  was  instituted  by  O'Reilly  for  their  exam 
ination  and  trial,  which  on  the  20th  of  October,  decided — that 
Nicolas  Chauvin  de  Lafreniere,  Jean  Baptiste  Noyan,  Pierre  Ca- 
resse,  Pierre  Marquis,  Joseph  Milhet,  Joseph  Petit,  Balthasar 
Masan,  Julien  Jerome  Doucet,  Pierre  Hardy  de  Boisblanc,  Jean 
Milhet,  and  Pierre  Poupet,  were  guilty  of  sedition  against  the 
Spanish  Government.  Villere  had  been  killed  in  endeavoring  to 
escape  arrest;*  and  Foucault,  after  having  been  seized,  was  set  at 
liberty,  in  consideration  of  the  office  lately  held  by  him  under  the 
French  Government,  and  doubtless  also  ^for  other  reasons,  less 
honorable  to  his  reputation.  The  decision  was  approved  by 
O'Reilly,  and  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month,  he  declared  his 
sentence  to  the  effect  that  Lafreniere,  Noyan,  Caresse,  Marquis 
and  Joseph  Milhet,  as  chiefs  of  the  late  conspiracy,  should  be 
hanged  on  the  gallows  ;  the  others  as  participators  w,ere  con- 

0 

*The  particulars  of  the  death  of  Villere  are  thus  related  by  Martin  in  his 
History  of  Louisiana: 

"Villere,  who  was  on  his  plantation  at  the  German  Coast,  had  been  marked 
as  one  of  the  victims;  but  his  absence  from  the  city  rendering  his  arrest  less 
easy,  it  had  been  determined  to  release  one  of  the  prisoners  on  his  being  secured. 
He  had  been  apprised  of  the  impending  danger,  and  it  had  been  recommended 
to  him  to  provide  for  his  safety  by  seeking  the  protection  of  the  British  flag 
waving  at  Manchac.  When  he  was  deliberating  on  the  step  it  became  him  to 
take,  he  received  a  letter  from  Aubry,  the  commandant  of  the  French  troops, 
assuring  him  he  had  nothing  to  apprehend,  and  advising  him  to  return  to  the 
city.  Averse  to  flight,  as  it  would  imply  a  consciousness  of  guilt,  he  yielded  to 
Aubry 's  recommendation  and  returned  to  New  Orleans;  but  as  ho  passed  the 
gate,  the  officer  commanding  the  guard  arrested  him.  He  was  immediately  con 
veyed  on  board  of  a  frigate  that  lay  at  the  leve"e.  On  hearing  of  this,  his  lady, 
a  grand-daughter  of  La  Chaise,  the  former  Commissary  General  and  ordonna- 
teur,  hastened  to  the  city.  As  her  boat  approached  the  frigate,  it  was  hailed 
and  ordered  away.  She  made  herself  known,  and  solicited  admission  to  her 
husband,  but  was  answered,  she  could  not  see  him,  as  the  captain  was  on  shore 
and  had  left  orders  that  no  communication  should  be  allowed  with  the  prisoner. 
Villere  recognized  his  wife's  voice,  and  insisted  on  being  permitted  to  see  her. 
On  this  being  refused,  a  struggle  ensued,  in  which  he  (ell,  pierced  by  the  bayo 
nets  of  his  guards.  His  bloody  shirt  thrown  into  the  boat,  announced  to  the 
lady  that  she  had  ceased  to  be  a  wife  ;  and  a  sailor  cut  the  rope  that  fastened 
the  boat  to  the  frigate." 


1769.]  EXECUTION  OF  LAFRENIERE  AND  FOUR  OTHERS.     555 

demned  to  imprisonment,  Petit  for  life,  Masan  and  Doucet  for  ten 
years,  and  Boisblanc,  Jean  Milhet  and  Poupet  for  six  years,  the 
property  of  all  being  confiscated  for  the  benefit  of  the  royal  treasury. 

The  sentence  was  carried  into  effect  without  any  delay.  On 
the  following  day,  August  25,  1769,  Lafreniere,  Milhet,  Noyan, 
Marquis  and  Caresse,  were  carried  to  the  place  appointed  for 
their  execution,  in  a  small  square  or  court  in  front  of  the  bar 
racks,*  which  was  surrounded  by  the  Spanish  troops;  and  after 
their  sentence  had  been  read  to  them  in  Spanish  and  in  French, 
by  the  secretary  of  the  expedition,  they  were  all  shot :  the 
manner  of  their  death  having  been  changed,  from  the  want  of 
a  person  properly  qualified  to  hang  them,  as  originally  intended. 

The  late  Commissary  Foucault,  against  whom  the  proceedings 
had  been  dismissed,  returned  to  France,  where  he  was  at  first 
imprisoned  in  the  Bastile;  but  he  was  soon  after  liberated,  and 
sent  in  his  former  capacity  to  the  Isle  of  Bourbon.  Aubry  sailed 
with  some  of  the  soldiers  and  inhabitants,  from  New  Orleans  to 
Bordeaux ;  but  the  ship  was  lost  at  the  entrance  of  the  Garonne, 
and  the  commandant  and  nearly  all  the  other  persons  on  board 
perished.  The  remaining  six  who  had  been  condemned  to  im 
prisonment,  were  about  the  same  period  sent  to  Havanna,  where 
they  were  kept  immured  in  the  Moro  Castle  for  some  time,  until 
their  liberation  was  effected  through  the  intercession  of  the  French 

O 

Government,  arid  they  were  allowed  to  retire  to  St.  Domingo. 

It  has  been  alleged,  that  in  the  execution  of  Lafreniere  and  his 
associates,  O'Reilly  had  exceeded  his  instructions,  and  that  he 
was  severely  reprimanded  for  his  cruelty  by  the  King  of  Spain 
on  his  return.  There  appears  however  to  be  no  grounds  for  this 
assertion,  as  we  have  the  words  of  the  King  himself,  declaring 
that  he  had  commissioned  O'Reilly  to  chastise  the  chief  instiga 
tors  of  the  movements  against  his  authority  in  Louisiana;! and 
according  to  the  Spanish  political  system  and  customs,  no  chas 
tisement  could  be  too  severe,  for  those  who  in  any  way  resist  the 
will  of  the  sovereign. 

*  The  place  of  execution  was  in  the  centre  of  the  block  or  square  in  New  Or 
leans,  bounded  by  Royal,  Bourbon,  Toulouse  and  Conti  streets,  which  was  then 
occupied  by  the  Royal  Barracks. 

*See  the  Royal  Order  of  January  28th,  1771,  in  White's  New  Recopilacion, 
vol.  2,  page  ]84. 


556    REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  CONDUCT  OF  THE  FRENCH.  [1769. 

The  punishment  of  these  men  was  certainly  an  unnecessary 
act  of  cruelty,  though  they  on  the  other  hand,  by  no  means 
merit  the  extraordinary  admiration  and  sympathy  which  is  claim 
ed  for  them  by  historians;  nor  does  the  record  of  their  proceed 
ings  exhibit  any  thing,  which  should  entitle  them  to  be  regarded 
as  heroes,  01  martyrs  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  A  revolt  against 
the  constituted  authorities  of  a  country  is  under  all  circumstances, 
a  grave  matter;  and  those  who  excite  it,  should  weigh  with  care, 
not  only  the  extent  of  the  evils  which  they  desire  to  remove,  but 
also  the  prospects  of  success,  as  a  failure  will  almost  certainly 
increase  the  evils,  and  render  their  removal  in  future  more  diffi 
cult.  The  transfer  of  Louisiana  and  its  people  by  France  to 
Spain,  was  one  of  those  acts  of  despotism,  for  which  political 
expediency  offers  the  sole  apology:  but  the  conduct  of  those  gov 
ernments  and  especially  of  that  of  France,  in  leaving  the  country 
for  seven  years  after  the  cession,  in  a  state  so  anomalous  and  un 
certain  as  to  paralyse  all  exertions,  and  to  reduce  the  people  to 
desperation,  is  utterly  indefensible.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  right  of  the  people  to  provide  for  their  own  security,  by  such 
measures  as  they  might  deem  most  proper,  is  morally  unquestion 
able.  Louisiana  was  however  without  population,  resources  or 
allies,  sufficient  to  afford  the  slightest  hope,  of  a  favorable  result 
from  an  attempt  to  avert  the  transfer  to  Spain  by  force  of  arms ; 
and  the  destruction  of  the  country  could  be  the  only  consequence 
of  such  an  attempt,  in  behalf  of  which  nothing  was  to  be  expected, 
from  the  interposition  of  France  or  of  any  other  power.  Those 
who  could  council  a^people  thus  situated  to  appeal  to  force  for 
redress,  should  have- possessed  the  stern  determination  of  a  Le- 
onidas,  united  with  the  worldly  wisdom  of  a  Franklin;  but  none 
of  these  qualities  were  found  in  the  leaders  of  the  movement  in 
Louisiana,  who  exhibited  no  discretion  whatsoever  in  the  selec 
tion-  or  the  employment  of  their  means,  and  whose  violence,  while 
temporarily  in  the  majority,  contrasts  painfully  with  their  abject 
submission  in  the  hour  of  trial.  Their  sufferings  have  brought 
them  into  notice,  and  secured  for  them  a  place  in  the  history  of 
the  New  World,  w7hich  they  wrould  otherwise  not  have  attained. 
Had  they  been  left  undisturbed,  they  would  doubtless,  like  their 
more  prudent  associates,  have  soon  sunk  into  quiet  and  loyal 
subjects  of  Spain. 


